Save The Last Dance For Me
by Kin'iro No Tenshi
Summary: Ichigo and Rukia both have tragic events from their past that hold them back. Will dancing bring them together and can they help each other deal with their pasts? IchiRuki AU/OOC Rated M for violence, language and lemons.
1. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

A/N: Hello everyone! I'm glad that a lot of you liked my recent one-shot! It gave me the confidence to start posting this story, I hope that you all like this one as well! This is a chaptered story and will be updated every Tuesday, which shouldn't be a problem because I have already written most of the story. The story is written in first person but the point of view changes between characters and it does so pretty frequently, but I will label when it changes.

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some later violence and later lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for language.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, Kubo-sama does.

* * *

**Rukia's POV (RPOV)**

It was time for me to move on. I had enough of the city and after everything that happened to me; I knew that the only way that I could truly heal was to leave. I loved the city, but Karakura wasn't a bad place. It was a quaint small town with a lot of trees and grass, and you could see the stars at night. You could never see the stars in the city, even at night. This town was so relaxing, and I was starting to realize that this really was the right decision. Leaving everything behind and starting over was good for me; it was healthy. It was the only way for me to get away from everything that happened.

I walked along the quiet main street of Karakura with an umbrella twirling in one hand and plastic bags in the other on my way from the grocery store back to my apartment in the early morning as it began to pour down rain. On my way from the store I noticed a small dance studio called Sentāsutēji. I walked up to the front door but it wasn't open yet; but then again it was 7 o'clock on a Monday morning. I peeked at the schedule posted on the front door. There were a couple of small classes scheduled throughout the afternoon for children, but after 6 pm anyone could come in and practice until 7pm. I decided that I was going to go home for now and come back later today. I don't really know why I decided this, not only did I still have healing bruises, but I hadn't even danced ballet since high school. I gave it up in college when I realized how unlikely I was going to get hired as a dancer; I am such a klutz anyway. It used to be such a passion of mine, perhaps now that I am starting fresh; it is time to take ballet back up again.

I returned to the studio after a long day of unpacking boxes at 6pm sharp. After I had gone home I realized that my dancing clothes were incredibly outdated, but they had been handed down to me by my former instructor because I really couldn't afford real dancing clothes at the time. I never cared about my clothing before, but being in a new town I didn't want to completely embarrass myself, despite the fact that I had not made any friends here yet after living here for almost a week. I couldn't figure out why I was being so shy, usually I was a little more outgoing,at least I had been when I was living in the city. Oh well, I was planning a trip to Tokyo soon so that I could go clothes shopping anyway. I walked up to the door of the studio and noticed a flyer for a basic ballroom dancing class that hadn't been there this morning.

I opened the door to the studio to get out of the still pouring rain and the bells on the door chimed. The studio was beautiful; two walls were fully mirrored so that you could see yourself when dancing in the room. The floors were all hardwood just like a stage. I looked up towards the tall ceiling to see a complicated lighting and sound system; I was really impressed. I had never been to a studio quite this fancy before.

I stepped into the nearly empty room only to see an orange-haired man sleeping face down at the desk tucked away in the corner of the room to the right of me. He was clearly out cold, and surrounded in a flurry of papers. I decided not to wake him up and began stretching quietly on the other side of the room away from him. After I finished stretching, I turned on the Ipod strapped to my upper arm and let the lilting music just flow through me.

**Ichigo's POV (IPOV)**

I had been so fucking exhausted all day. I had been late to open up the damn studio, that bitch of a kiddy ballet instructor was really getting on my nerves, and I had gotten almost no sleep the night before. I had been doing paper work for the past couple of hours and fell fast asleep I guess. I heard the bells chime on the door as it opened, but I didn't open my eyes, I figured whoever it was would just leave after seeing me asleep. No one ever comes to the open dance part of the day, it was really more like time for me to clean the studio and get things done. In fact no one ever really seems to come to the studio; I can barely pay the bills on this freaking place. I wanted so badly to have my own studio, but ever since the accident; I haven't even danced at all. Hiring dance teachers to come and teach the classes barely kept this place afloat.

Despite this, this studio was still my passion. I paid for it myself, and I remembered the days that I used to teach classes here. I taught three different classes here a week and I loved my work. I especially loved to work with the children who had a real passion and talent for dancing; kids that reminded me of myself at their age. I wanted to inspire them to continue dancing; I knew firsthand how hard it can be to dance and keep up with school and friends, much less the people that bring you down for doing what you love.

My mother had forced me to take a couple of dance classes when I was younger, and I had only pretended not to like them. I was a boy and when you're seven, boys simply don't dance. I could remember telling her that I wanted to quit, but I think that she knew that I was only bluffing; saying it to convince myself that I didn't like something that I loved. I continued dancing after she died a couple of years later, and dancing still reminds me of her and how wonderful she was.

After waking up from hearing the bells chime I decided that I really couldn't go back to sleep, so I sat up and opened my eyes. I was shocked that the person who must have come in actually stayed. I had never seen her before though, and I knew just about everyone in town; Karakura is a small place and I had lived here for the majority of my life. She didn't notice me nor did she even have her eyes open, it was like she was in a world of her own. She was dancing ballet, and not too badly. I could tell that she had probably been trained for some time. She had jet black hair that fell to her shoulders that was flipped up at the ends, and she was rather petite, short but thin. Her outfit was ridiculous though, she looked like she just danced out of a movie from the 80's. She was wearing a bright yellow leotard with matching legwarmers that came up to her knees and a white headband with matching workout wrist cuffs. I took every ounce of self control and concentration I had to keep a straight face and to keep myself from rolling on the floor laughing. I didn't realize that I was staring at her until she saw me and looked really startled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry; I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's ok; really, I needed to wake up anyway," I yawned. "Do you live here in town? I've never seen you around before."

"I live in town, but I just moved here a few days ago. My name is Rukia Kuchiki."

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki; I own the studio," I said as we shook hands across his desk. "So where did you move here from?"

"Okinawa, I grew up there."

"If you grew up in the city then why did you decide move here?"

"I, uh, just needed a fresh start, and I really like it here so far," she smiled.

"Well good, then welcome to Karakura, Rukia."

"Thank you. Um, when do the ballroom classes start?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, they start on Saturday at 5 pm, would you like to sign up?"

"Umm, sure I guess. I have never done ballroom dancing before though."

"Well that's what the class is for, right?" I said as I smiled at her.

"Um, well I suppose so. Who is teaching the class?"

"I'm having a friend of mine come in to teach it."

"Do you teach any of the classes here?"

"No, not anymore." I said as I broke eye contact. I was glad that she didn't press on any further.

We said our goodbyes when 7pm came around as I closed the studio up for the night. I went upstairs to the apartment above the studio that I lived in. It was small and cozy, perfect for one person to live in. It was nice to live right above the studio; I don't need a car, it isn't noisy and I have to pay the rent for it anyway since the studio and apartment is one unit. I flopped on my bed and went over the events of the day in my mind, and I couldn't stop thinking of Rukia. The first things that I noticed after she snapped out of her little world were her eyes. She had really piercing violet eyes, they were pretty. She was also really great to talk to; I don't think that I have actually been genuinely nice to someone that I just met in a couple of years. Typically I feign happiness for appearance's sake, but it was really nice to talk to her. Maybe I'll watch over that ballroom class on Saturday and see how she does.

**RPOV**

After I said goodbye to Ichigo and left the studio I began walking back to my apartment. I decided to go to town the next day to buy some decent dancing /workout clothing. I looked freaking ridiculous; I was embarrassed to walk home. Ichigo may not have noticed, but I knew that he was staring at me because of my clothing. I can't help it if I haven't danced in seven years; it was kind of "in" back then. Clearly fashion changes more abruptly than I thought, and I don't need to embarrass myself in front of him again.

Not only was he really cute, but he was the first person to willingly talk to me since I moved here. Cute enough to make me crawl up into a shell and barely even talk to him, what the hell was wrong with me? I thought that I wanted to make friends here, not stutter and stammer people into thinking I'm not intelligent or worth talking to. I've never had trouble talking to cute guys before, what was going on with me?

He looked really disheveled after he woke up, his hair was a mess and he looked worn-out. I did notice that he really oddly colored eyes; they were a strange mix of amber and brown. Wait, did I really notice the color of his eyes? What the hell are you thinking Rukia? Then again he was really handsome…

Looking back on our conversation, I wondered why he became so distant when I asked him if he taught any classes. What kind of guy has his own dance studio and doesn't teach any dancing classes? It doesn't make any sense. I wonder; does he even dance at all? Maybe he's just a pervert who likes to watch cute girls dance. But then again I didn't get that feeling from him; he seems very warm and kind. If he owns and runs a dance studio, I can't imagine that he isn't passionate about dancing. I wonder if he will be at the ballroom lessons on Saturday…

* * *

Yes, I know that some things don't make sense yet, but all will be revealed in time. Hope you liked it! Please review! -Kin'iro No Tenshi


	2. Shall We Dance?

A/N: Hi everyone! Thank you so much to Aizawa Ayumu and Alexis Rae for the lovely reviews! I hope that this chapter is better than the last and that you all like it. The next chapter will be up next Tuesday (a week from now) and that is when the story really starts to get going, so if you think that it is going a little slow please be patient, but the background story is important for the rest of the story.

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some later violence and later lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for language.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, the absolute freaking genius Tite Kubo does.

Enjoy!

* * *

**IPOV**

"What the hell do you mean you can't make it?"

"I'm sorry, but I just got a great dancing gig and I am not giving it up."

"But you promised that you would teach this class Masumoto! I already have the entire roster filled up for this class."

"I know but I can't give this up, it is the opportunity of a lifetime, I'm so sorry."

"I understand; it's cool. I'll talk to you soon, okay? Let me know how it all goes," I sighed.

"Thank you, you have no idea how much it means to me."

Shit, now what was I going to do? I have no one to teach the ballroom class now. I decided to go ahead and call everyone on the roster and tell them that the class was cancelled. I felt so bad about it; I know that some of those people were really looking forward to it. Rukia never put down her phone number though; maybe she hadn't gotten a phone yet since she just moved in? Oh well, I'll just tell her when she gets here in a couple of hours. I hope that she won't be too disappointed…

**RPOV**

I woke up Saturday morning surprisingly chipper, happy and with fluttering butterflies in my stomach. I had gone to town a couple of days before and gotten some reasonable exercise clothes. I bought a couple of pairs of some super comfortable black yoga pants and some sports bras since they were really comfortable as well and easy to move in.

Why was I so excited about this class? Practicing the other day showed me just how rusty I was, I was no longer anywhere near as flexible as I used to be and I was nowhere near as graceful. I just about fell down at least twice, especially when Ichigo scared me. All I knew was that I felt confident and excited to really start dancing again.

I walked quickly to the studio; there was no need to drive since it was only about four blocks away from my apartment. I felt so happy and alive. Dancing again was going to be really good for me, I could feel it.

I got to the studio and opened the door, hearing the familiar chime of the bells. I was surprised when it was completely empty. I was confused; I thought that there would be a lot more people here; the list was almost full when I had signed up for it on Monday. Did I get the time or the day wrong? I looked over towards the desk in the corner of the room and Ichigo was walking towards me looking pretty sullen. When did he get so tall? He had to be at least a foot taller than me…

**IPOV**

"Hey there Rukia."

"Hi Ichigo, what's up? I thought that more people would be here for the lesson."

"I'm afraid that I had to cancel the ballroom class, the instructor had something come up at the very last second. I have been calling people to let them know but you never put your phone number down..."

"Oh, okay."

She looked so fucking devastated; I didn't know what to do. She looked like she was going to start crying, but she was clearly trying hard to hold back her tears. She folded her arms around herself like she was holding herself together and turned away from me and towards the door, was she really that upset about the class being cancelled? Was there another reason why she was so miserable?

"Is the class going to be rescheduled?"

"No, this is a long term commitment for the instructor and she simply just can't make it."

"Oh, well I guess that I better go then if there isn't going to be a class."

She began to head towards the door looking so gloomy, was she never going to come back to the studio?

"Wait, I'll teach you."

What the hell was I thinking? Did I really just say that? What in the hell is wrong with me, I haven't danced in over two years.

"I thought that you didn't teach any classes."

"Consider it cheap private lessons."

"What about all of the other people who signed up for the class?"

"Uhh, well I already told them all that it was cancelled, so there's no point in confusing them and making them come. Shall we get started?"

* * *

"Whoa, wait; hold on a second, you danced today?"

"Yeah I did, so what?"

"Dude, that's awesome! Are you finally moving on?"

Sometimes my friends were really fucking annoying. They know that I don't like to talk about that shit— ever, but fucking Renji has to open his big mouth. Nonetheless, they are my friends, and we made sure that we all had dinner together at least once every couple of months to catch up and keep in touch.

They were my best friends since high school, Renji and Uryuu. Renji was loud-mouthed and obnoxious, but he was loyal and never gave up on anything. Uryuu was far quieter, he kept to himself. He was a lot like me in that neither of us liked to pry into other people's business unless they were willing to share it with us.

"Shut up Renji, you know that I don't ever want to talk about that."

"Whatever Ichigo, so is she a hottie?"

"What? Uh, she's cute I guess."

"Wow man, I think that is the first time you have thought a girl was cute in years, " said Uryuu.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that you haven't mentioned a girl to us once since the incident. She must be something special if you not only don't dislike her at first sight, but are willing to start dancing again to make her happy."

"Whatever man, the lesson didn't go all that well."

"What happened?" Renji asked.

"She couldn't let me lead. She got the steps down just fine, but I couldn't get her to just let me lead. She was way too controlling over the whole dance. It's so frustrating, how am I supposed to teach her ballroom dancing if she won't fucking let me?"

"Is she coming to the studio for another lesson?"

"Yeah, she's coming in on Tuesday in the afternoon. Since she is the only student in the "class", the schedule can be a little more flexible."

"Well then teach her a damn lesson!" said Renji.

"What do you mean?"

"Stop trying to teach her steps and make her follow you. _Show_ her why the man leads."

**RPOV**

"Grrr… why did that lesson have to be so frustrating?" I said as I threw myself on my bed. I couldn't believe how badly the lesson went. I was surprised when Ichigo offered to teach me himself; maybe he offered because he saw how sad I must have looked. He must have pitied me. I didn't cry though, because Kuchikis' never cry. It's not lady-like and it shows weakness.

"Shall we get started?" He closed the distance between us and grabbed my right hand and put his arm under my left arm. Up close he was even more handsome than I had previously realized. He was at least a foot taller than me, he was muscular but lean, definitely the body of a dancer. "Alright, this is the closed dance hold. This is the main position that you typically start within most types of ballroom dance. Now look away from me to the left…"

"But I can't see what you are doing that way."

"I know that, but…"

I just started to move. I'm supposed to be taking a dancing lesson, not a standing lesson right? I was suddenly gaining a lot of confidence around this guy considering that I had stuttered so much during our first encounter.

"Rukia, what are you doing?" he said as he stumbled trying to keep up with what I was doing.

"Dancing. This is a dancing class right? Ow!" I exclaimed when he stepped on my foot. "What did you do that for?"

"If you would let me finish teaching you how to stand properly then I wouldn't be stepping on your feet. You have to let me lead you."

"And why should I let you do that? I can't lead because I'm a girl?"

"No, that's just how ballroom works; this isn't ballet where you just worry about yourself…."

"Oh really?"

The whole lesson just continued on like that; we bickered and fought the entire time. It was completely ridiculous. If he won't freaking move or dance then I will; I came to learn how to ballroom dance; not to take orders from some pompous egotistical jerk. Despite the rough lesson, I did agree to take another lesson on Tuesday. If it goes this badly again I am just going to stop taking these lessons. I don't feel like I learned much of anything today. I really hope that the next lesson goes a lot better; despite our bickering I liked spending time with him, but I wasn't really sure why…

* * *

Reviews pretty please? –Kin'iro No Tenshi


	3. Dirty Dancing

A/N: Hello again everyone! Here is the next chapter in the story; it's one of my favorite chapters that I have written so far so I hope that you all like it. Thank you to Alexis Rae and shnizlefritz for the lovely reviews! Enjoy!

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some later violence and later lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for language.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, but if I did that would be awesome haha.

* * *

**IPOV**

I started to set up the studio at noon in preparation for today's lesson with Rukia since there weren't any other classes for the rest of the day. If she couldn't get it through her thick skull what ballroom truly is about, then I am just not going to be able to teach her. I was a little rusty on Saturday, but I had started practicing dancing again since then after the studio closed or when no one was at the studio and I was surprised how quickly I was regaining my balance and skill. It was nice to be able to dance again, despite the guilt I felt in doing it. I had forgotten how much dancing was a part of me. It felt so bittersweet to dance, the guilt overwhelmed me but the memories of my mother soothed me at the same time.

I had thought about giving up the studio a couple of years ago, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it, and I am glad that I couldn't. Without this studio I don't think that I would have ever found my passion for dancing again.

Just as I got the studio's music system set up the way I wanted, I heard the bells on the door chime behind me.

**RPOV**

I was seething as I walked down to the studio. I had recently gotten a cell phone and given Ichigo the number so that he could contact me in case of a cancellation or rescheduling. I had received a text from him earlier that morning:

"_Come to the studio at 1:30. Wear a skirt and heels."_

"_And why do I need to wear those?"_

"_Girls wear heels because that is what they perform in, so you should get used to dancing in them, and a skirt helps you to figure out how you are moving and so you can fix what you may be doing wrong."_

Whatever, I picked out a knee length flow-y white skirt, a sports bra, and a pair of short heels; I was clumsy enough as it was. It would be better to start out small then to try and dance in 5 inch high heels that I couldn't walk in much less dance in. I swear that if this lesson goes badly; I will never ever come to the studio again. I have had more than enough drama for the year.

I walked to the front door of the studio and opened it, again hearing the familiar chiming of the bells. The lights had been dimmed. Ichigo was on the other side of the studio fiddling with the sound and lighting system. He was wearing a tight black shirt, black pants and dressy dancing shoes. I was really confused.

"Uh, Ichigo, what's going on here?"

He turned around away from the sound system and towards me. His eyes were incredibly intense as he looked at me. The dimmed lighting cast shadows over his face showing off how angular and beautiful it was. I think I forgot to breathe for a minute there.

Ichigo sauntered towards me as the music started to play; I noticed that it was tango music. He scooped me up into the starting position and started leading me around. I was completely taken by surprise and stumbled for the first few steps as he physically held me up; but then I started to figure out how to follow his steps. After I could finally figure out how he was moving, I could regain my composure and my senses.

"And...and just what are you doing Ichigo?" I stuttered out.

"If you won't let me explain to you what ballroom dancing is, then I have to show you," he said as he dipped me down and brought me back up. "A couple who is ballroom dancing isn't two separate people; they are one entity."

He twirled me around and caught me in his arms again. I couldn't believe how skilled he was. He was firm but gentle with me, strong but still incredibly graceful. I was amazed at how we danced together; it was like I could predict his movements and how he wanted me to move. I also couldn't believe the look in his eyes, he was so focused and passionate. I was absolutely overwhelmed.

He twirled me back towards his body and he held me closer as we glided across the dance floor, "One entity that has two different sides. My job is to make you look feminine, and your job is to make me seem masculine. Both sides are supposed to come together in the dance to express these different sides. Both people have to work closely together in order to truly become one unit." I could feel his breath on my neck. I was swept away in the moment completely. He felt so warm and soft yet so firm and in control. The song came to an end as he knelt to dip me down, our foreheads touching and he was breathing hard. Then everything went faded to black…

**IPOV**

"Shit, shit, shit! Rukia, are you okay? Wake up!" I went into complete panic mode and I laid her down and shook her. What had I done wrong? There is no way in hell that this is happening again…

"Ughh…"

"Rukia, are you alright?"

After a couple of coughs she replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just a little dizzy."

I was so fucking relieved. "Maybe I should take you home."

"Oh no, it's okay, I'll be fine."

"No, you just passed out for no reason in my arms, at least let me help you home and into bed so that you can rest."

"Ugh, fine, you can walk me home, I guess."

Again, I was relieved. I could tell that she was still dizzy, so I helped her up and walked with her out the door.

"Which way is your house?"

"Its four blocks west of here. Really, you don't need to walk me home; I'm fine."

"Nope, I am making sure that you get home and into bed before you end up passing out in the middle of the street." I heard her mumble something but I couldn't make out what she said.

**RPOV**

"This is so embarrassing," I mumbled to myself. I couldn't believe that I seriously forgot to breathe and passed out. I was mortified. I guess that I was just so overwhelmed in the moment that my lungs shut down. This is awful; now he feels bad and feels obligated to see me home. I wish I could just freaking disappear off of the face of the earth.

"Is this it?" he asked me after we had walked the short distance to my apartment complex.

"Yeah, this is my apartment." He took the keys out of my hand, ran up the stairs and unlocked the door. I was still a little dizzy but I was ok. I just needed to lie down for a little while. Ichigo opened the door to my bedroom and lead me inside. "Really Ichigo, I've got it from here, you can go home now. I just need to lie down."

"Well alright," he said as he tucked me into bed. Thank goodness I keep my house spotless; I really didn't need more embarrassment than I was already feeling. "So, what are you doing on Friday night?"

"Nothing, why? Do you want to schedule another lesson?" I said as I curled myself up into bed.

"Actually I want to have dinner with you." Wait, what? Did he really just say that? Maybe this is a side effect from the passing out….yeah, a hallucination?

"Uh, okay?"

"Great, I'll pick you up at 7," he said as he left and closed the bedroom door behind him.

**IPOV**

Did I really just ask her out? What in the hell has gotten into me? Maybe it was just a reaction to her passing out. I was so relieved when she woke up, I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't woken up. Fate wouldn't be that cruel to me would it?

I left her house and locked the door behind me, slipping her key under her door, and began heading back towards the studio. Rukia looked really surprised when she saw the studio, but I think that she looked more surprised when she saw me. I don't know why, it's not like I dyed my hair black or something. I think I was more surprised by her. She looked gorgeous in the dim lighting, her eyes glowed. I never realized just how pretty she really was. She looked damn hot in a skirt too, she may be kind of short but her legs looked incredible. I had been planning to take her by surprise and sweep her off her feet to show her ballroom dancing really was and what it means; but I had no fucking idea that she would do the same to me.

When we started to dance she stumbled a bit at first, but she began to figure out how to follow. It was about time I got through to her. I must say that she did an incredible job; I haven't danced with someone like that before. I know that she is a trained dancer, but that dance was so full of soul and passion, the chemistry was just there. It was more than just dancing. It felt fucking amazing to dance like that. Maybe I didn't ask her out because I panicked; maybe I asked her out because I am taking a liking to her… why does that kind of scare me?

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think! –Kin'iro No Tenshi


	4. White Nights

A/N: Hello again everyone! Here is 'first date' chapter, yay! Sorry this is posted slightly later than I usually post; it's been a busy day. Thank you to Aizawa Ayumu, KuroKuchiki, and shnizlefritz for the lovely reviews for the last chapter, they make me so happy!

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some later violence and later lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for Ichigo's inner monologue pottymouth language. :P

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, but I really wish I did.

* * *

RPOV

I couldn't believe that Friday was already here. Why was I so nervous? And why couldn't I find anything to wear? I had no idea where he was taking me; in fact we hadn't talked at all since Tuesday. Would he even remember that he had asked me out? Certainly he went on dates all of the time, and with girls that are much hotter than me I'm sure. Was this even a date? Maybe it was just dinner, I wasn't really sure.

I turned around and gazed at my reflection in the mirror. I wasn't unattractive, but I wasn't exactly pretty either. I guess that I just look average, nothing special. Something clearly must have possessed him and taken control of his actions, after all why would he ask _me_ out?

I picked out a nice red dress to wear and some black heeled shoes. The dress tied into straps at the tops of my shoulders and came to my knees, relatively modest and classy. I didn't want to go overboard on the makeup and look as desperate as I felt, so I only applied some lipgloss and mascara. It was 10 minutes before Ichigo was supposed to arrive. Why was I pacing around my apartment like some kind of nervous teenager? Relax Rukia, relax.

I jumped when I heard a knock at the front door and answered it knowing exactly who it would be.

IPOV

After I knocked on the door Rukia answered it almost immediately. I was stunned. She was wearing a gorgeous red dress, but she looked almost embarrassed; her face was the same color as that dress.

"You look beautiful Rukia. Are you ready to go?" I said as I held out my hand to her. She blushed more and took my hand. Why was she so embarrassed?

"Um, thank you, you look nice too," she mumbled as she looked at her shoes, clearly trying to hide her face from me.

I smiled at her and led her out of her apartment. I didn't have a car so we walked down to the restaurant, Shiroi Gekkō. It was a nice little restaurant on the outskirts of Karakura; it was only six blocks away and the weather was warm with the sun already setting in the distance. It would give us time to get past the awkward small talk conversation before we sat down to eat.

"So how has your week been?" she asked.

"It's been alright for the most part, but I have been having problems with the teacher that teaches the little kid ballet class. She is being a total bi—jerk and I wish I could fire her."

"Well, why don't you?"

"I don't have a replacement teacher and I can't just cancel the class, it is already halfway through the session. I don't really have any ballet training so I can't teach the class myself."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's fine; it's just a little stressful. How has your week gone?"

"It's been long but ok."

"Did something happen this week?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well, your face has been the same color as your dress since I picked you up at the door; you aren't sick are you?"

"My face isn't red! What are you even talking about fool?" she said as she turned her face away from me again. I liked seeing her all flustered and embarrassed, it was cute. Just to push the moment a little further, I put my arm around her waist and pulled her towards my side; I hoped that I wasn't making her too uncomfortable though.

Before I knew it we had already arrived at the restaurant. The waiter sat us down at a table and took our orders. We decided to share a large plate of sushi instead of getting individual orders because neither of us was terribly hungry.

"So how long have you been dancing Ichigo?"

"Uhh, since I was a kid, maybe six or seven. My mother forced me to take some dancing lessons and surprisingly I liked them. I danced through high school and then decided that I wanted to be in the dance business for a living. After I came back from school I opened up my own studio so that people could find their passion for dancing too."

"Wow, where did you go to school?"

"I travelled to the United States and went to Julliard." She looked even more embarrassed now. Was I doing something wrong? "So how long have you been dancing?"

"Oh, I started dancing when I was young too, I was five. I danced ballet through high school but I gave it up when I went to college."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't think that I would ever get hired. I am such a klutz and I was never at the top of the class. I decided that I needed to do something different with my life."

"But you're not a bad dancer at all."

"Ha ha, very funny," she scowled at me. It was clear that she wanted to just drop the subject, but I couldn't understand why she didn't believe me. We sat in silence for awhile and our sushi came.

RPOV

What was he talking about? He was the amazing dancer, not me. I trip on flat surfaces; there was no way that I was a good dancer. Maybe he was just trying to make me feel better; but he really didn't need to lie to do it.

I was surprised at how nice he looked when I opened the front door. He was really dressed up, he was wearing what looked to be the same shoes he wore the last time I saw him with black dress pants and a nice blue button down shirt. He also wore a loose black tie that made him look much more casual than if it was tightened.

We had made small talk as we walked, but I had no idea about his past until we sat down at the table. Juilliard! He must be supremely more talented than I thought if he could get into a school like that. Someone with his talent couldn't possibly think that I was even so much as a mediocre dancer; I was so embarrassed. How could I even call myself a dancer in front of him, I was a total amateur in comparison. No wonder he had completely overwhelmed me the other day, he had a natural gift for it. This silence was kind of awkward; clearly we needed to move on to a lighter subject.

"So what is your favorite kind of sushi Ichigo?"

"Umm, calamari I suppose, you?"

"I love tuna. What's your favorite animal?"

"Ummm, I guess lions are pretty cool. What's yours?"

IPOV

"Um, bunnies I guess?" she said as she blushed. What was wrong with liking bunnies?

"What was the funniest dance experience that you ever had?"

"I remember when I was starting ballet we were doing stretches on the floor. A girl in the class accidently kicked me in the nose and I punched her in the stomach while yelling at her to watch where she was going. The best part was that the instructor never even noticed, " she snickered.

I could hardly stop laughing; that was absolutely hilarious. I didn't realize that she was so tough. "When I was 13 I was just starting to learn ballroom dancing, but I was the only guy in the class so I had to dance with all of the girls. Unfortunately there was one girl in the class who tripped while we danced and kicked me square in the junk. It was humiliating at the time, but it is pretty funny now."

Rukia started laughing across the table; I was really glad that I could cheer her up with that story. That was the first time that I had been kicked like that, and it hurt like a motherfucker. At least she didn't look embarrassed anymore, now I kind of was though. We finished our food, I paid the bill, and we walked out of the restaurant.

"Did you want to watch a movie at my place or something?" Again, why am I opening my big mouth? She probably thinks that I am some kind of man-whore who wants to sleep with her on the first date. I'm not saying I don't want to, I'm saying that it is only the first fucking date.

"Sure, that sounds nice, where do you live?"

"Above the studio, I have a small apartment there."

"Oh, it must be nice to live above the studio; no long commutes."

"Yeah, it is nice; I don't have to worry about having a car or anything."

We had finally gotten to the studio. I unlocked it and motioned her inside; the stairs up to the apartment were at the back of the studio. I locked the front door behind us and lead her over towards the stairs and up them. Thank goodness I had thought to clean the apartment the day before because this was not planned at all.

RPOV

I was shocked when he asked me if I wanted to watch a movie at his place. I didn't think that he was that kind of a guy. Worse, why did he think I was that kind of a girl? But then I saw the look of anguish on his face after he asked and realized that he was just being awkward and polite. Besides, he had been a complete gentleman for the entire date, and I anticipated that would stay the same.

His apartment was really warm and cozy. There was a small living room and kitchen as you entered the door, and then down the hall I guessed that there was a bathroom and his bedroom. He motioned me towards the DVD rack.

"Go ahead and pick something out."

I scanned through the rack of movies. There were mostly action movies, but then I spotted "The Notebook". Really, a guy like him had a sappy chick flick in his movie collection? I plucked it out off the shelf and stuffed the disc into the DVD player. Then I sat on the couch in front of the television; it was astonishingly comfortable. Ichigo joined me on the couch to see what movie I had picked out.

"I'm embarrassed to own that movie."

"Then why do you have it?"

"It was originally given to me as a joke from my friends, but I kept it because it is really…uh...well written."

He sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. He was so warm and felt so nice. I leaned into his side and closed my eyes…

* * *

A/N: Aww, isn't that sweet? The ballet story that Rukia told in this chapter is actually my first memory as a child; I had to include it! For those of you waiting for the lemons; they will come eventually; I promise. The next chapter is more fluff (most of this story is fluff) but after that is when we start getting a little more into the hurt/comfort part of the story, and you will start to learn more the the backstory. I hope you liked it, please review! –Kin'iro No Tenshi


	5. Step Up

A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry that it's been so long since I've updated, I haven't been working on the story at all lately and have had no time for editing. I plan to finish writing the story during my Fall Break in a couple of weeks, and hopefully I will be able to update more often. Maybe if I have time I'll even write another one-shot! Anyways, this chapter actually starts some plot (gasp!). You may hate the end, I'm sorry. Oh, and huge bonus cookie points if anyone can figure out and tell me why I name my chapters the way that I do.

Thank you to shnizlefritz, Aizawa Ayumu, KuroKuchiki, and novicestar for the wonderful reviews, they make my day! Please read and review! Enjoy!

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some later violence and later lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for language. I promise the M stuff will come in good time.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, if I did I wouldn't need this disclaimer.

* * *

IPOV

I woke up as the sun was peeking through the blinds on the windows. I was on the couch with my arm still around Rukia. She was sound asleep and drooling on my shoulder. She was really cute when she was sleeping. I got up slowly and laid her down so that she wouldn't wake up. I found a blanket nearby and covered her with it so she wouldn't get too cold in that dress. Then I looked over at the clock.

Shit! It was 10 minutes to nine o'clock; I needed to open the studio in ten minutes. I took a very quick shower and walked into the living room. I kissed Rukia softly on the forehead as she slept and left the apartment quietly so that she could sleep.

I ran downstairs to the studio only to see the ballet teacher, Yourichi, tapping her foot impatiently at the front door of the studio. Shit, she looks like she is in a bitchier mood than usual. I unlocked the front door and motioned her in.

"Well it's about time Ichigo, I thought that you just weren't going to open the studio today. You live right upstairs; you have no excuse not to open on time."

"I accidently slept in, give me a break."

"No, I am not giving you a break until you start paying me more."

"You know I can't do that, I can barely keep this place afloat as it is." I seethed.

"Well you better do something about that. Do you know how hard it is to teach those bratty little snot-nosed kids? I doubt that any of them will even continue dancing past primary school. Not that you are any better than them."

"That's it! I am so sick of your bitchy ass behavior, you are fired! Get the hell out of my studio!"

"Fine by me, I can move on to bigger and better things!" she yelled as she left the studio.

I sat down at the desk and slammed my hands against it. Shit, now what am I going to do? The class starts in half an hour and I can't teach those kids.

"Ichigo, are you ok?"

RPOV

I woke up after feeling something touch my forehead and hearing the door quietly shut. I opened my eyes and at first I freaked out because I definitely was not in my room, or even my apartment. Then I remembered that I had come to Ichigo's apartment after our date. I don't even remember the movie at all; I must have fallen asleep quickly. I noticed that Ichigo covered me in a blanket, which was so sweet of him. I walked over to the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror.

Wow, I looked like a hot mess. I was trying to clean off the mascara that had seeped under my eyes when I heard yelling coming from downstairs. I quietly left the apartment and rushed down the stairs to see some lady leaving out the front door. Ichigo headed over to his desk and slammed his hands down on the desk with a lot of force; I was surprised that the wood didn't crack.

"Ichigo, are you ok?"

"What?" he asked as looked up at me. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine, but I don't know what to do. I just fired the ballet teacher and now I'm going to have to call all of the kid's parents to tell them that today's lesson has been cancelled, and then I have to find another instructor, and fast, and…"

"I'll do it."

"Huh?"

"I'll teach the ballet class for you, at least until you can find a new instructor…"

"But don't you have work or something?"

"Uhh..." I hadn't wanted to share this. The truth was that I had been looking for a job in town, but I wasn't really able to find one, no one seemed to be hiring, "No, I haven't been able to find a job here yet, "I said as I looked at the ground; ashamed of myself.

"Wow, would you really teach the class? I would love to hire you to do that."

"Yeah, I'll teach the class, and you don't need to pay me for it; just give me some time to go home and get ready for it." I only just realized that I was still wearing the red dress from last night. I was going to do a walk of shame after doing nothing shameful at all.

"You are amazing Rukia, I don't know how I could ever repay you for this," he said as he stood up from the desk and walked toward me. He came up to me and gave me a hug and a kiss on the forehead. Slightly embarrassed, I walked out of the studio to go home and change. I basically ran to my apartment, took a quick shower, and changed into some workout clothing. I then ran back to the studio as fast as I could.

When I got back to the studio some of the students were already there beginning to stretch. In all honesty, I had no idea where these kids were in their course and I wasn't really sure that I could teach a ballet class full of small children. Oh well, I can probably at least maintain their level until Ichigo can find a new instructor.

"Hi kids, how are you today? My name is Miss Kuchiki and I will be your new instructor."

"Hi Miss Kuchiki!" the class responded.

"Now what did your last instructor last teach you?"

IPOV

I couldn't believe that Rukia was willing to teach the class for me. It never dawned on me that she would be the perfect instructor for the class; I am oblivious to the obvious sometimes. It surprised me when I heard her ask me if I was alright; I thought that she would still be sleeping. I hope that I didn't wake her up with all of that yelling.

I had forgotten that she was still dressed from last night, she looked a little disheveled but she still looked cute. I do wonder why she was so embarrassed when I kissed her forehead; she turned beet red and left. Did she think that was inappropriate?

When she started teaching the class I could tell that she was a natural at it; I just sat at my desk and watched. The kids took to her instantly and she did a great job, especially considering that she picked up a class on zero notice and she didn't know what they had and hadn't learned, but it was like she had been their instructor the whole time. She was incredible. I couldn't believe how graceful she was, and flexible to boot. Maybe I would get to see some of that flexibility in action soon…

After the last student left Rukia looked exhausted. I could tell that she really enjoyed teaching the class; she looked more joyful than I think I had ever seen her.

"Wow, I didn't realize that it would be so tiring to teach a class of seven year olds!"

"Did you enjoy it though?"

"Yeah, I actually did. It's nice to pass on what I know to those kids, even if it isn't much."

"Are you kidding me? You trained for years; you are really amazing at ballet and at dancing."

"What are you talking about; you went to school just to learn dancing and you are amazingly talented at it. I am not even an average dancer."

"Maybe you forgot our lesson the other day? You did amazingly well."

"Are you kidding me? I stumbled and I could barely keep up with you. You don't have to lie to me to make me feel better," she scowled at me as she turned away from me and crossed her arms.

She is so frustrating! Can't she see that I'm telling the truth? Maybe I need to show her that I am telling the truth.

RPOV

Why did he think that I was any good at dancing? I clearly wasn't at all. Ichigo was obviously frustrated; he walked over to a light switch on the other side of the room and dimmed the lights again. Were we going to have another lesson? I was really tired.

He didn't give me as intense of a look as he did last time. This one was softer, tenderer perhaps? He walked fluidly towards me and scooped me up again, but it wasn't a tango this time, it was kind of like a slow dance. I don't really know what to call it. It was slower-paced and gentle. He twirled me around as we glided across the floor, and he held me right up against him. It was intense, but in a different way than last time. There wasn't any music playing; we just danced around the room. He looked straight into my eyes the whole time as if he was trying to show me something, and then I got it. He was showing me that he really cared about me. Maybe he wasn't lying to me after all. Heck, maybe he even likes me, who knows? When came to this realization I couldn't stop smiling. Did I feel the same way back?

IPOV

I don't know what I was thinking; I went on autopilot. I wasn't planning on teaching her ballroom again tonight, especially since she looked so tired, but I needed her to understand me. I wasn't lying to her at all. I wanted her to realize that I care about her a lot, a lot more than I care about anyone else. She has never been one to listen to words, so I have to show her.

I grabbed her in my arms and just started dancing. It was a good thing that she could follow me well because I was really making it up as I went along. I tried to be gentle and calm. I couldn't help but stare at her eyes; they look so gorgeous in this lighting.

Then she started to smile. It was a deep, warm, heartfelt smile that spread across her face. Did she get it? Did she finally understand? I dipped her down almost to the floor to end the dance, our foreheads were touching. I could feel her breath washing over my face, and then…

RPOV

He leaned in and kissed me. His lips were supple and warm. Kissing him was just like dancing with him, it was soft but firm and gentle. My arms pulled him closer as I grabbed his neck and put my hand through his vividly bright hair. His arms were still cradling me and keeping me from falling on the floor, but he pulled me closer as well. As he pulled me closer his tongue slipped into my mouth and I was in heaven. I couldn't believe it was happening and I never wanted it to end. We eventually pulled away from each other panting hard; at least I didn't pass out this time.

"Uh, wow," was all I managed to get out after that.

"Yeah, 'wow' is a great word for that," he smiled at me as I tried to catch my breath, "Do you want to go out to dinner again tonight?"

"Um, sure, that sounds great. Can I go home and get ready?"

"Of course you can; I'll pick you up at 6, ok?"

"Okay, I'll see you in a few hours," I said as I gave him a quick, chaste kiss on the lips. Even a chaste kiss made me swoon; did he really have that kind of effect on me? I reluctantly left the studio and headed towards my apartment.

I

Wow, I can't believe that I actually managed to gather the guts to kiss her. Where did that come from? It was amazing; I had never had a kiss like that before, and I was still on a fucking adrenaline rush from it. I felt like I was pouring all of my emotions into that kiss. It seemed that she got the message though. I headed upstairs to get ready for picking her up again tonight. It was kind of hard to be away from her, I wanted to head over there as soon as possible. I washed my face in the sink when my phone started to ring; it was Rukia.

When I picked up the phone all I could hear was Rukia breathing unevenly; she was crying. "What's the matter, what's going on?" I started to panic. I could hear a voice shouting in the background and a pounding sound.

"Ichi…_sniff_…go…"

"I'm coming," I said as I dropped the phone, ran down the stairs and out the door as fast as my legs could carry me.

* * *

Yay for their first kiss! Boo for the scary cliffhanger, sorry! There will be more fluff after the next couple of chapters, but I have to start the actual plot at some point, right? Please review! -Kin'iro No Tenshi


	6. Staying Alive

A/N: Hi everyone! So here is the next chapter to the story, I'll warn you now that this chapter is a lot heavier than previous chapters, but it is also longer, which many of you have been begging for. Sorry, I just don't write long chapters, they don't often flow well for me. If it makes you feel better, the chapter after this one is a lemon! (If that is what you have been waiting for). Also, the POV also switches a lot, it needs to for you to understand the chapter and what is going on in the heads of the characters.

Thank you to shnizlefritz, Aizawa Ayumu, and rukijade for the wonderful reviews, they always encourage me to write and finish this story! Please read, review and enjoy!

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some violence and later lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for language and adult-ish/scary content.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, but if Tite Kubo wants to give me the rights for free that would be cool…

* * *

RPOV

Wow, I couldn't believe that just happened; it is like my life has been a wonderful dream ever since I walked into that dance studio. I couldn't believe that a man could be so tender and caring, especially towards me. I walked home in almost a trance. All I really remember was looking up at the clouds taking in how beautiful they looked in the sky. It was nice to see such a clear sky, maybe I could see the stars tonight with Ichigo as well.

After I got into my apartment I went straight to my closet; if we kept going out at this rate I was going to run out of cute things to wear.

_Knock knock._

"Oh, maybe Ichigo came early?" I thought.

I walked quietly to the front door of the apartment and looked through the peephole, saw blue hair and gasped, _it couldn't be him_. I ran to the back of the apartment, and he must have heard me moving away from the door.

"I know you're in there Rukia! Did you think that you could run away from me forever? Did you really think that you could hide from me? I told you that I would hunt you down and make you pay!"

He began pounding on the door harder, rattling the door; I thought that he was going to break it down or break a window to get in. I didn't know what to do; I was so scared for my life. I was so naïve; I had actually thought that I really could hide from him; to get away from the awful life that I was trapped before I came here.

I started bawling, and in my terrified and distraught state I called Ichigo. I knew that I shouldn't have called him, he could get hurt if he tried to come and help me; I just wanted to hear his voice; I needed to. I shakily picked up my cell phone and dialed his number. I heard him pick up the phone. He said something on the phone but between my crying and the noise, I couldn't make out what he had said.

"Ichi…_sniff_…go,"was all I could manage to get out.

"I'm coming," he said. That was clear.

"No! You can't come! Stop!" but all I could hear on the other end was silence; but he hadn't hung up the phone. Was he still there? I started crying harder, I didn't know what I would do if he got hurt.

Then I noticed that the pounding and yelling at the door had completely stopped while I had been bawling. I walked slowly and carefully over towards the front door. He was gone. Why did he leave? Was he going to come back? Was he going to try and find another way inside the apartment? I was starting to panic again.

I then heard a knock on the door, a soft one. I looked out of the peephole to see Ichigo, his face wracked with worry. I felt so terrible; I should have never brought him into all of this.

IPOV

Nothing looked out of the ordinary as I ran the four long blocks to her apartment. I ran up the stairs to her door scared to death. I knocked on the door hoping that she would answer it; hoping that she wasn't lying dead on the floor in a pool of her own blood. Just imagining that made me breakout into sheer terror and nearly tears. I don't know what I would do if she wasn't around now. It was like my life had begun again when she entered it.

She answered the door looking really upset. As soon as she opened the door she began to cry so hard. I really didn't know what to do with a crying girl. She just ran into my arms, so I sat down with her on the floor inside her apartment, closing the door behind me and just let her sob into my chest.

After about 15 minutes she started to calm down. I couldn't figure out why she was crying; she didn't look injured. She had some yellowing bruises now that I got a closer look at her; I had never noticed those before.

Who did I hear in the background of that phone call? Would she even talk to me about it? What in the hell was going on here? I didn't want to pry into the situation but she was so hurt and sad…

"Rukia, are you alright?"

"_Sniff_… Yeah, I think I'm okay now."

"What happened?"

"Nothing…"

"Bullshit, you didn't just call me crying for no reason, please tell me what happened. I'm really worried about you, what's the matter?" I said as I held her closer to me.

"I don't know how he found me here."

"Who?"

"It started around a year ago; I started dating a guy named Grimmjow. He worked down the street from the café that I was a barista at. He would stop by the café every once in awhile and get a coffee, and eventually he asked me out.

He was a really nice guy. We got along really well for about 8 months when something really changed in him faster than I ever thought possible, it was like something had snapped. He started to have a really short temper and he started to become more...physical and violent. He would get mad at really small things. He began to alleviate his stress by punching inanimate objects like walls, desks, and tables. Then he turned on me…"

RPOV

I remembered that morning very well; I knew that it would be seared in my memory, the day I decided to leave. It was just a week or so before I moved to Karakura. It was a normal morning at first.

"Come on Rukia, please?" said the blue-haired man nuzzling into my side.

"No, not after last night, you were way too rough; I feel like I have bruises."

And that's when I heard the slam over my head. I scrambled out of bed to try and have some space between him and me.

"You think this is funny you fucking tease?" he seethed at me; I had never seen him so angry before. He had this look in his eyes that screamed fury. I ran out of the bedroom into the living room and he followed me there. "You think you have bruises now? Just wait until I'm done with you."

"Grimmjow, stop, what are you doing?" I screamed, scared to death, as he sauntered towards me. I tried to get away from him by circling the room. He started destroying my furniture, I heard my belongings crash to the ground and break. He cornered me against the wall and I screamed louder. I felt a sharp pain to my stomach and one to my head. I woke up in the hospital later that afternoon. I didn't have any broken bones, but I had a gash on my scalp, some cuts down my arms, a cut on my lip, and bruises all over my torso and legs.

A neighbor had called the police after she heard me scream. I am fairly certain that the police coming was the only reason that I either wasn't in much worse shape or dead. Grimmjow had been arrested and was in custody. After I woke up a couple of police officers came into my hospital room and took a statement from me. Because I wasn't severely hurt they could only charge him with assault; nothing more severe. It was in that hospital bed that I decided that I needed to get out of this relationship immediately.

I was released from the hospital a couple of days later and went home. I was mostly healed, the cuts and scrapes were healing well and the bruises were already starting to yellow; it was good that I heal quickly. When I got back to my apartment I saw the chaos left over from the other day. Chairs were askew, the table was flipped over, and there were broken dishes on the floor. I knew that I could never enter this apartment without remembering that event, so I grabbed a box and I started packing, loading boxes into my car. The lease on this apartment was up at the end of the month anyway, I would just pay the landlord and leave. I spent the entire day cleaning out the apartment, throwing out anything that was broken or reminded me of Grimmjow.

Late that night I had everything packed up and ready to go. I decided to go ahead and get a few hours of sleep. After I slept I was ready to leave. I ran down to the landlord's room to give him the next month's rent and explain why I was leaving so suddenly. He understood completely, thank goodness, and let me out of the lease. When I got back up to the room to lock it for a final time there was a letter taped to the door addressed to me.

"_Dear Rukia,_

_I am so sorry for what I did to you the other day. I can't believe that I could have ever hurt you like that. I hope that you aren't mad at me anymore. They are supposed to let me out of jail in a few days; I have been sentenced to probation for a few months. "_

The letter continued on with apologies and sweet words, but it was the end of the letter that truly troubled me.

"_I don't understand, why did you press charges on me? You know that I could never hurt you again. I need you to drop the charges or this is going to go on my record, you need to go down to the police station right now and make this go away. I swear that if you don't that I will make you pay, you won't be able to hide from me. I love you Rukia, and I am _never_ going to let you go."_

After I read the letter I ran as fast to my car as possible and just drove. I was so anxious and worried; I had to get as far away as possible before he was let out of jail. I had abandoned all of my friends and my entire life their without telling anyone. I drove for a couple of days straight before I found Karakura; I chose it on a whim. Something about the place just lured me in…

IPOV

After she told me the story she started to bawl into my chest again, and tears started to stream down my face too. I couldn't believe that she was going through this and that this guy knew where she was after she ran so far. No wonder she was so scared, this guy was clearly dangerous. What kind of bastard beats up his girlfriend? Thank goodness she got out of that relationship, but evidently he wasn't ready for it to be over yet. I felt this overwhelming need to protect her from this fucker who was after her.

I was also surprised by how vulnerable and honest she was with me, and I felt a strong need to be on equal ground with her. It was time that I would be honest with her too, as much as the memory hurt me deeply.

"Do you know why I haven't danced in so long?"

"_Sniff_… no, what happened?"

"It happened two years ago. I was dancing with a girl named Orihime; we had been dancing as a pair in ballroom for a couple of years. We had started dating the year before, the relationship evolved out of spending hours and hours dancing together. We were entering our first actual ballroom competition, and we were ready. We had spent months practicing this particular routine, and we went into the competition strong and confident. The routine went incredibly well until I lifted her in the air. I lost my balance and I dropped her onto the floor. I remember people gasping and running onto the floor, Orihime was unconscious and bleeding everywhere. She died in the hospital later that night."

I couldn't continue or say anything else. It was entirely my fault that she had died, had I not dropped her she would still be alive. The guilt I felt was why I stopped dancing altogether. I almost gave up the studio after that, but I had to keep it. It was almost like I was punishing myself everyday for what I had done. I still have a picture of the both of us arm in arm sitting on my desk, one taken at that competition; it was the last picture taken of her before she died.

RPOV

No wonder Ichigo stopped dancing, who wouldn't after something like that? But why did he start up again? Had he forgiven himself? It didn't seem like he had; after he told me his tragedy he became a little distant, but I appreciated that he was so open with me. His tragedy made mine seem trivial in comparison, but it made me feel better. It didn't make me feel better because of what happened, I felt better because I felt so much closer to him because he opened up himself to me.

I hugged him closer as I started to cry again. For some reason I didn't mind crying for once, Kuchikis' didn't cry but I felt so safe around Ichigo that I couldn't help but let my emotions pour out of my soul.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you Ichigo, that's terrible."

"It's alright Rukia. If you are scared to sleep here tonight, you are more than welcome to stay at my apartment."

"I would like that, thank you. Can I go and pack some things?"

"Sure, take your time," he said as he tenderly kissed me on the forehead.

I walked to my bathroom and looked in the mirror. I looked awful; mascara had run down my face in ugly grey streaks, my face was red from crying and I had big blue bags under my eyes. I grabbed a duffel bag out of the closet and filled it with things that I would need for the night and the morning; I certainly didn't need another "walk of shame" moment.

I picked out a cute white sundress to wear tomorrow and some brown heels to wear with it. I also packed a big t-shirt and a pair of fleece pants for pajamas along with some toiletries and stuff I would need in the morning. After I had finished packing I entered the front room to meet Ichigo.

"I'm ready to go," I smiled at him. He made me feel so much better.

"Great, let's go," he smiled back as he put his hand on the small of my back to guide me out of my apartment. We walked in a comfortable silence to the studio hand in hand. When we got to the studio he unlocked the door and led me inside.

"You go on ahead and get changed, I'll be upstairs in a minute," he said to me. I went on ahead upstairs to wait for him.

IPOV

The time it took for us to walk to the studio gave me time to reflect. I felt so much better since I shared my story with Rukia; it felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I told Rukia to go ahead and go upstairs to the apartment; I had something that I needed to take care of. After I heard the door to the apartment close, I walked over to my desk.

I remembered the funeral, Orihime had no family but she had many friends that attended. I felt so guilty that I had taken her away from all of her friends. Her friends held no ill will towards me, they knew that it was an accident, but I still couldn't forgive myself for what I had done. I remember her being lowered into the ground. Before they buried her, I walked over to the grave and whispered to her how sorry I was.

I thought that I had loved Orihime before Rukia came into my life. Rukia made me feel so different though, she made me feel alive. I don't think that it was that I didn't love Orihime; it was that I didn't love her in the same way.

I picked up the picture of us on my desk and gazed at it. She looked so pretty that day, her long orange hair had been pinned up and she had been wearing a lovely light blue dress. I took the picture off of my desk and placed it in a drawer. I would never forget her, but I think that I had finally forgiven myself.

* * *

I hope that you enjoyed it! Lemon next chapter, I promise! Please review! -Kin'iro No Tenshi


	7. The Turning Point

A/N: Hi everyone! So if you have been waiting for a lemon, then today is your day! This is my first lemon, so please be kind. This chapter is short but it needed to be, I wanted a fluffy chapter after the heaviness of the past couple of chapters. I was going to combine this chapter and the next one but it was just way too long.

Thank you to shnizlefritz, and Aizawa Ayumu for the wonderful reviews, reviews always encourage me to write and finish the story! Please read, review and enjoy!

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, violence and lemons. Please don't read this story if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated M for language and lemons!

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, I just like to make the characters bend to my will.

* * *

IPOV

I entered my apartment to see that Rukia had already changed and was brushing her teeth in the bathroom. I walked into the bathroom and hugged her from behind putting my head on top of hers, exaggerating just how different our heights really were. She was dressed in an oversized t-shirt and some fleecy pants that looked really big on her, but she still looked really cute. Hell, she looked cute in everything.

"Are you ready to go to bed?" I asked as she leaned over to spit out the toothpaste.

"Sure, I am pretty tired after everything that happened today."

"Me too. I'll take the couch tonight, you can have the bed."

"Oh no, you don't need to do that…"

"I insist, you're the guest here," I said as I smiled at her.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could sleep in the bed with you? I'm afraid that he's going to come back…" she said as she looked away with a sadness in her eyes.

"That's fine, I don't mind."

"Thanks Ichigo."

We walked over to my bed and lay down under the covers. I must have fallen asleep within minutes.

RPOV

When I woke up in the morning, Ichigo and I were facing each other and his arm was around me; I could feel his breath washing over my face. He looked so cute and serene in his sleep. He was wearing a white wife beater and some navy blue pajama pants.

I carefully put my hand through his bright hair so I didn't wake him up; it looked brighter in the sunlight that was peeking through the blinds. I was glad that I asked to sleep in his bed with him last night.

I wasn't actually afraid that Grimmjow was going to come back to his apartment, but it was a great excuse I suppose. I just didn't want to be alone, and I felt so close to Ichigo after our talk last night. How do I feel about Ichigo? Do I love him?

I wasn't really sure yet. I thought I had loved Grimmjow, but that didn't turn out so well for me now had it? I was surprised at myself, how could I open my heart to another man so soon after Grimmjow? Had I even loved Grimmjow? I cared about Ichigo so much more; this feeling was so much different. It was all consuming over my entire being. I couldn't be away from him without feeling incomplete. He started to stir awake as I gazed at him.

"Good morning Ichigo."

"Morning, did you sleep well?"

"I did, did you?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Good…" he mumbled as he leaned in to kiss me. I swear that every time he kissed me it was like I died and went to heaven. Our kiss became more fervent and passionate; I couldn't get enough. It was slow and sinuous; we slowly explored each other's mouths and bodies. I put my hands through his hair and on his back, pulling him closer to me.

IPOV

As we kissed, I hoped that I wasn't going too fast for her. I didn't want her to be uncomfortable; I wanted her to set the pace. She slid her hand down my back and under the wife beater I was wearing, and I quickly broke the kiss to tear the clothing away from my body. After I had done that she became feistier, the kiss became more sinful and passionate as we began to explore each other's bodies with our hands. She felt so warm and soft under my finger tips. I slipped my hand under her oversized t-shirt only to discover that she wasn't even wearing a bra, the shirt was so baggy on her that I hadn't even noticed.

I slipped the shirt off her as I rolled her over on top of me. Again, I didn't want to make her uncomfortable or go too fast for her, she needed to set the pace. She seemed to be enjoying herself, and she rolled us over onto her back instead.

I broke the kiss and began to place kisses on her neck and chest as she mewled in pleasure. I took her nipple into my mouth and she squealed and moaned in pleasure; apparently she really liked that. She put her hand in my hair to keep me there, so I just switched breasts and began working on the other one. After a few moments I slid up to kiss her on the lips again. As we kissed, her hands moved slowly down my sides to my hips and grabbed my prominent erection; pajama pants were not good for hiding arousal.

"Are you sure you want to do this Rukia? I don't want you to do something that you aren't comfortable with…"

"Just shut up and do it Ichigo."

That was all that I needed. I made quick work of our clothes and became more ferocious. Her body felt so damn good under mine. As much as I wanted to just let go and be a complete animal, I decided not to. I was no virgin and I assumed that she wasn't one either, but I still wanted this first time to be meaningful. I didn't want her to think that I just wanted a quick fuck; I wanted to show her that I really care about her and that I want a relationship with her.

I positioned myself a bit awkwardly because of our height difference and I entered her slowly and carefully; she was so damn wet and tight; I wasn't going to last long. I continued to shower her lips and chest with fluttery kisses as she moaned and panted underneath me. I continued pumping into her slowly and steadily, slowly speeding up as time passed. She began breathing harder and moaning louder, bucking into my hips; I could tell that she was getting close, and I was getting close too. I began pumping into her harder and harder until she gasped and whispered my name into my ear. That was enough to make me cum as well.

After we had both calmed down a little I pulled out of her, flipped onto my back, and pulled her towards me to lay her head on my chest. That was amazing; I couldn't believe that having sex with her could be that good. I was still calming down and taking deep breaths as I decided to close my eyes for a moment, with Rukia lying on my chest.

RPOV

I was lying down on Ichigo's chest still panting hard from my orgasm. I couldn't believe how amazing that was; I have had sex before but I had never had an orgasm. Men have always been so rough during sex with me, but Ichigo wasn't. He was gentle and loving; wow, he was amazing.

How did I manage to ever find a guy like him? I certainly didn't deserve him. Wait, are we even together? How did I feel about him? Do I love him? I don't even really know. Ugh, I need to stop panicking and just live in the moment. The only thing that freaking out could possibly to do is make things worse.

As I calmed myself down from my internal freak out he closed his eyes and fell lightly asleep. He looked so serene when he slept, but there was something different about him than before. He looked calmer, more at peace with himself. Did it have something to do with our conversation earlier? I hadn't wanted him to know about that dark period in my life, but now I was kind of glad that he did. It was nice to share it with someone, as painful as it was.

I lightly traced the lines of his abdomen as I felt him breathe steadily under me. I knew that he was muscular but I had no idea just how much so. The muscles on his chest were well-defined, he was clearly quite strong. They lightly flexed as he breathed in and out with my weight on his chest. I could wake up every morning like this for the rest of my life.

I started to close my eyes as well when Ichigo's phone began to ring. He grunted as he reached for the phone on the nightstand and flipped it open to answer it.

"Hello?...Oh yeah, sure I can come over today, uh, can I bring someone with me?...Great, then I'll see you soon, in about an hour?...Okay, bye then."

"What was that all about?"

"Rukia, how do you feel about meeting my family today?"

* * *

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, please review! -Kin'iro No Tenshi


	8. Funny Face

A/N: Hi everyone! So here is the chapter where Rukia meets Ichigo's family! This is a longer chapter (for me at least) like some of you wanted. Be warned that there is a lemon at the end of this chapter as well. The POV doesn't change as often in this chapter, which may make it a little easier to read. This chapter is kind of fluffy because the next chapter starts back into the more plot-based stuff, and it is a little bit more intense, so look forward to some plot development in the next chapter.

Thank you so much to shnizlefritz, Aizawa Ayumu, KuroKuchiki, and forever-will-love2112 for the wonderful reviews, they always encourage me to keep writing and to finish the story! They also make my day; I love finding a new review waiting in my inbox for me. Please read, review and enjoy!

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some violence and lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated M for language, Ichigo's horny thoughts and lemons!

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, but if I did I wouldn't need this disclaimer, would I?

* * *

RPOV

"Umm, I feel fine about it Ichigo, but to be perfectly honest I don't want to get out of bed."

"I feel that way too," he smiled at me, "but we have to get up sometime right? And it's already 11 o'clock."

"But I don't want to get dressed; I'm too tired."

He gave me a menacing smile as he picked me bridal-style and started carrying me towards the front door to the apartment.

"Well I suppose that we could just go like this…"

"No, stop, put me down and let me put some clothes on!"

"Well I prefer you this way, but I suppose I'll let you do what you want," he said as he playfully dropped me on the couch in the living room and walked off snickering to himself. Embarrassed, I wrapped myself in the blanket covering the couch and followed him so that I could grab my bag and get ready to go and meet his family. He's never talked about them to me before….

After I got dressed and ready I exited the bathroom to find Ichigo ready to go. He was standing by the window in front of the couch in the living room looking outside. He was wearing baggy khaki cargo shorts, a tight-fitting plain white shirt, and a pair of leather flip-flops. He looked so serene, just like he looked in his sleep earlier. His hair looked brighter with the sun that was shining through the window.

"Umm, I'm ready to go Ichigo."

IPOV

I turned away from the window to see Rukia timidly step out of the bathroom. Why was she being so coy? Was she scared to meet my family? She looked lovely though, she was wearing a white sundress adorned with a red ribbon around her under the bust that tied around her small frame in the back and brown stiletto shoes. Even though the heels made her look a lot taller than she was, she still didn't even come close to my height. I walked towards her, took her right hand in my left hand, gave her a soft kiss on the cheek, and motioned us towards the door.

My family wanted to have a picnic today since the weather had gotten so much better. My father, Isshin, sounded really surprised when I asked if I could bring someone along with me. Shit! How am I supposed to introduce her? What are we? Are we a couple? Are we just friends? I didn't want to just be her friend and I hoped that she thought of me as more than a friend, but I don't want to go too fast either. But if I just introduce her as a friend, she might be hurt if she sees us as more than that. This picnic was a bigger deal than I was letting her know; I had never brought anyone to any family event before. Most of my friends have never even met my family…

"Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your family like? Could you tell me so that I'm prepared?"

"Why? Are you nervous?"

"Yeah, I really am. I've never met someone's family like this before…"

"Well, what's your family like?"

"I don't have any family. My sister died a long time ago; she was the only family that I had."

"I'm so sorry Rukia…"

"Don't worry about it… I'm sorry; it's hard for me to talk about."

I could see the pain and sadness behind her eyes. I needed to change the subject quickly; this isn't how I wanted her to feel when she meets my family.

"Well I'll warn you that my family is a bunch of characters. My father is wild and crazy, be on your guard when you are around him. He also has a tendency to ask questions and say things that make the people around him incredibly uncomfortable."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, my two little sisters are twins, but they are nothing alike. Yuzu is quiet and shy; she probably won't talk much to you since you are a new acquaintance. She likes to cook a lot, and she is really good at it. The thing that I miss about living at home the most is her cooking, I can't cook at all. Karin is a bit of a tomboy and loves sports. She also has a sarcastic sense of humor, so don't take offense to what she says or take it seriously."

RPOV

He looked so happy talking about his family; I could tell that he really loves them. I hoped that they would be nice to me, but if Ichigo loves them so much then I don't see why I wouldn't like them.

We reached the park that we were apparently having this picnic at. We spotted a group of three people in the distance on the other side of the park laying out large blankets. They started waving towards us and Ichigo waved back towards them.

"Is that your family?"

"Yep. You ready?" he asked as he looked at me and smiled, squeezing my hand. I hadn't even noticed that we were holding hands.

All of a sudden a man rushed towards Ichigo and tried to punch him while he was looking at me.

"What the hell are you doing dad? We have a guest remember? Behave like an adult please!"

"Oh, right, sorry about that. And who did you bring to our family picnic Ichigo?"

"This is my girlfriend, Rukia Kuchiki. Rukia, this is my father, Isshin."

"Hello Kurosaki-sama." I said as I bowed, blushing. Did Ichigo really introduce me as his girlfriend? I kind of liked that…

"Oh, there is no need to be so formal, please just call me Isshin," he said as I straightened back up. I really wasn't sure quite how to act. Ichigo knowingly put his arm around my shoulders as we walked the rest of the way to the picnic to meet his sisters, his father walking about three paces ahead of us.

"Relax Rukia," he whispered in the shell of my ear, "You're welcome here, just like family." I could feel the tension leave my body as he said those words; I couldn't believe that he could have such an effect on me. One of the girls ran up towards me as we approached the blankets.

"You must be Ichigo's guest! Hi, I'm Yuzu!" she exclaimed as she gave me a hug. I was shocked; I had never been greeted like that before.

"I'm Rukia; it's nice to meet you Yuzu." Wasn't she supposed to be the shy one?

"Hi Rukia, I'm Karin," she said from a distance as she finished laying down a blanket.

"So what's for lunch Yuzu?" Ichigo asked.

"I fixed mashed potatoes, sandwiches, coleslaw, cake, cookies; lots of stuff!"

"Sounds great Yuzu! Is everyone ready to eat?" Ichigo said as he looked at me again, smiling.

Everyone sat down on the blankets and served themselves on paper plates and plastic utensils. Everybody ate in silence for several moments, enjoying the food.

"This food is wonderful Yuzu, thank you for making it." I said. It really was good food; I don't think that I have eaten this well in a long time.

"Thank you Rukia, I'm really glad that you like it."

Everyone else joined in thanking Yuzu for the food. Yuzu looked so pleased to receive so much praise, and she deserved it. Not only was the food really good, but there was a lot of it for the five of us.

"So Rukia, where did you move here from?" Isshin asked.

"I moved here from Okinawa; I grew up there."

"Why did you decide to move here?"

"I just needed to get away from the city."

"Do you like it here?"

"Yeah, I like it here a lot," I said as I looked towards Ichigo.

"What do you do for a living?"

"Uh…"

"She teaches the ballet class at the studio now," Ichigo said for me. Was he really serious about hiring me? Maybe he just didn't want me to be embarrassed about not having a job yet…

"Oh, is that how you both met?"

"Uh, sort of. Rukia and I met after she came into the studio. She signed up for a ballroom class that I am teaching…"

"Wait, your teaching a class?"

"Uh, yeah, I am now." Ichigo smiled, embarrassed.

"Wow Ichigo, she must really be something…"

"Whatever dad," Ichigo said looking away from the group, but I could still see the pink that was forming in his cheeks.

"So Rukia, you going to marry my boy or what? I'd love to finally have a third daughter!"

"…"

"Goat-beard, what the hell? I've known her for two weeks!" Ichigo yelled, turning redder as he yelled.

"It's ok Ichigo, don't worry about it so much, I'm fine," I said as I touched his arm to try and calm him down. It really was fine; it was just an awkward thing for his father to say, and Ichigo did warn me about that.

We all finished eating and Yuzu and Karin began packing up the extra food and blankets. Ichigo and I helped pack picnic supplies in their car and said our goodbyes to his family.

"So what do you want to do now?" Ichigo asked as we waved to the car as it left.

IPOV

"Um, well we could head back to my apartment if you'd like…" she said.

"Sounds great."

Leave it to my dad to create awkward tension during a seemingly normal family get-together. Why does he have to go and open his big fucking mouth like that? Clearly that is about the most awkward damn thing to ask someone at all much less someone he just met.

We walked hand in hand back to Rukia's apartment in a comfortable silence. At least she didn't seem worried about my dad's question; I was really glad that I warned her that he could be like that.

I wondered if she was still scared about that Grimmjow guy, maybe that's why she wanted me to walk her home. That is, unless she wanted me to stay over, which I wouldn't mind at all. I could certainly deal with a repeat of this morning…

We got to her door and entered her apartment. I had never really taken much notice of it before, even though I had been here twice. But both were in times that I was really worried about her, so I guess that I never thought about it.

Her apartment was really clean and tidy, and it was a lot bigger than mine. When you entered the front door you stepped into a foyer sort of area. To the left was a well-sized kitchen that looked like it was never even used. To the right was a living room with a couple of couches and a TV, with an entrance to a hallway where the bathroom and bedroom were.

"You're welcome to pick out something to watch on TV while I shower and get ready to go to bed, I'm exhausted!" Rukia smiled at me and walked down the hallway.

I plopped down on the couch and started flipping channels on the TV, not finding anything good at all. Then I heard the shower turn on down the hall and the horny fucker in my mind decided that it was time to come out and play. I tried to fight it, but frankly it was useless. The more I tried not to imagine her naked in the shower, the more I did imagine that very scene. Warm water running down her body, lathering herself up with mounds of soap bubbles….

I found myself walking down the hall to the very bathroom that she was undressed in and turning the knob, but the door was locked. Damn it. Horny as hell at this point, I went further down the hall into her bedroom. It was a nice bedroom; she had a queen-sized bed in the middle of it with a few pictures on the walls, a dresser in the corner and a closet. I walked over to the dresser to find a picture of her and who I assumed to be her sister smiling at the camera hand in hand on top of it. She looked just like her sister, except her sister was taller and her hair was almost purple in color. I remembered her telling me about her sister; it broke my heart to see her look so sad. I understood how she felt, my mother had died when I was young and it changed me. It took me a very long time to move on from her death, and I still thought about her all of the time.

"What are you looking at Ichigo?" I heard behind me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" I said as I turned around to Rukia standing next to the door with just a wet towel wrapped around her body.

"It's ok, really. Do you want to know more about my sister?"

"Only if you want to tell me."

"She died after she was hit by a car about twelve years ago. We were both orphaned after our parents had abandoned us a couple of years before that; I still don't know why they left or what happened to them. Hisana raised me after that and took care of me. We were inseparable until she died."

"I'm so sorry Rukia."

"No, it's okay, really," she said with that sad look in her eyes again. I couldn't bear to see that sad reminiscent expression; it tore my heart to fucking pieces. I had to find a way to cheer her up and make her smile again, and the painful boner that was pressing against my jeans gave me the inspiration.

I walked across the room towards her and pulled her body towards mine into a kiss. I tried to be loving and passionate; I wanted her to let go of some of the past and be here in the present with me.

I eased the towel off of her body and it fell into a wet pile on the floor around her feet. I guided her to lie down on the bed as I kissed her fervently, my tongue exploring her mouth. She fisted my shirt and I broke the kiss only to tear off the offending piece of clothing. I needed to rein myself in; tonight was just going to be about her. She had suffered enough in the past couple of days and I wanted to make all of that pain go away, at least for now.

I ran my hands down her still slick body while still passionately kissing her as she started to moan under me. I ran them up and down her sides, around her breasts and down her torso. My lips left her mouth as I made my way down leaving kisses on her neck and collarbones. My hands massaged her breasts as she mewled and moaned, much to my satisfaction. I slowly made my way down her body with soft nibbles, licks and kisses down the center of her torso. I looked up at Rukia's face; her eyes were hooded with lust and awe as she predicted what I was going to do. I grabbed her right leg and left small butterfly kisses from her knees through the inside of her thigh. She began to moan louder as I got closer to where she wanted me to be. Right before I got there, I grabbed her other leg and began the same process over again. Judging by the whimpers she was making now, she was getting a bit frustrated with me.

I gave her one long and hard lick across the folds of skin nestled between her legs as she yelped and moaned in pleasure. I couldn't believe how sweet she tasted; I couldn't get enough. I began sucking and nibbling at her sensitive nub as she moaned and groaned louder, her breathing getting heavier. The sounds she was making made me moan against her, and she let out a deeper moan. I proceeded to stick two fingers inside of her sweet folds and hold her hips down with my other hand as she tried to buck against me. She started panting more as I used my fingers to explore what I couldn't see as I continued to lick and suck. Her walls began contracting around my fingers; I knew she was close. I wanted to tease her and make her beg, but I kept myself from doing that, I could always do that another time. I pumped my fingers into her faster and faster until I felt her walls collapse against my fingers as she screamed my name. I loved hearing her scream my name.

I released her as she panted and calmed down from her orgasm. I grabbed the towel on the floor from earlier and used it to gently clean her up. Throwing the towel aside, I decided to lie down next to her and then I pulled her upper body onto my chest, proud of myself for making her feel so damn good.

"Ichigo…wow that was amazing."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Do you want me to…?"

"Nope, just go to sleep Rukia."

"Are you sure?" she said to me sleepily.

"Shh…goodnight my sweet Rukia, sleep well." I said softly as I stroked her hair, feeling her breathing on my chest.

"Goodnight Ichigo…"

* * *

I hope that you liked it, please review! -Kin'iro No Tenshi


	9. Stepping Out

A/N: Hi everyone! This chapter isn't really fluffy at all, it progresses the plot and is full of some angsty feelings and some creepiness, so be prepared!

Thank you so much to shnizlefritz, and Aizawa Ayumu for the great reviews, they always encourage me keep writing! Please read, review and enjoy!

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some violence and lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for language.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, which is probably a good thing in the end.

* * *

RPOV

I woke up the next morning in a hazy fog. I could feel warmth, movement and soft skin under me. I slowly opened my eyes to find Ichigo still asleep and lightly snoring. My thoughts reflected back to last night as I lightly traced the hard muscles of his stomach with my fingers. He certainly knew how to cheer me up, he was so amazing. I wondered what Hisana would think of him. Would she have liked Ichigo? I'd like to think so.

I gazed over at the clock that read 8:40am. Wait, doesn't the studio open at 9?

"Ichigo…" I said as I tried to lightly poke him awake. I didn't want to wake him up, but he needed to go to work.

"Ugh…mm… five more minutes?" he said sleepily as he rolled over under me.

"Wake up silly; you have to open the studio in 20 minutes."

"What? It's almost 9 already?" he said as he scrambled out of bed. He ran over to the bathroom as I lazily got out of bed to find something to wear. I picked out a black linen skirt that reached my knees and a bright yellow t-shirt to wear. After I got finished dressing Ichigo came back into the room with his hair dripping wet; apparently he took a quick shower.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked me.

"Sure!"

He took my hand and led me out of my own apartment and we walked down the road towards the studio. We had 10 minutes to get there, so we would make it just in time.

As we turned the corner in front of the studio, we saw a police car with its lights flashing, only to find that the officer was standing right in front of the studio. I could see that the glass on the front door had been broken in.

"Ichigo…"

"Rukia, why don't you go home and go back to sleep while I take care of this? I'll give you a call later, ok?" he said to me with a stern look on his face. It was clear that he wasn't going to budge on the issue.

"Ok Ichigo, call me soon though."

"I will," he said as he gave me a small smirk. He then started running up towards the police officer to see what was going on as I turned around to head back to my apartment wondering what happened and who could have done this.

IPOV

My stomach continued to drop as I ran up towards the police officer that was standing in front of my shattered studio door.

"Is this your property sir?" the officer asked me.

"Yes, this is my studio, what happened?"

"I got a call about half an hour ago from a passerby who noticed the damage to the front of the building and called us. You…may want to take a look inside as well sir."

I swallowed hard as I opened the shattered door and looked inside my beloved studio. The mirrors on the walls were shattered to pieces. My desk had been overturned and papers were everywhere, but nothing looked like it had been taken. Then I noticed that there were messages etched into the walls with some kind of sharp object that weren't meant for me.

"_I told you that you were going to pay Rukia."_

"_You can't hide from me forever."_

"_I love you Rukia." _

I was really glad that I had sent her home so that she didn't have to see this. I think that this would have scared her a lot more than she was the other day. But now I worried about her being by herself, what if he came back for her again? Clearly he knew that I was involved with her as well, and I couldn't count myself safe anymore.

I felt not only incredibly violated that he had come into my studio and damaged my pride and joy, but I felt hatred. I hated him. He wanted to hurt Rukia and I could never allow for that. I have to protect her, no matter what it takes. I seethed in anger as I surveyed the damage. I was thankful that he hadn't found the door in the corner that led up to my apartment, it wasn't touched.

"It doesn't look like anything has been taken, but there is a lot of damage," I said to the police officer.

"Do you have any idea who may have vandalized your property sir?"

I knew exactly who had damaged my property. I told the officer Rukia's whole story with this Grimmjow guy. I knew that it wasn't my story to tell, but if I could get this guy sent away to jail and keep her safe, then I would tell it. The officer went back to his car to check out the police report from that particular crime. He came back 15 minutes later after I had called my insurance guy to come over and assess the damage.

"Well sir, the story checks out. In fact Grimmjow is supposed to be in prison at the moment, he escaped from jail in Okinawa and is currently a fugitive."

I didn't actually know this much, but I guess that I should have figured it out. This scared me even more; this guy was clearly bat shit crazy and willing to go to any length to get whatever the hell he wanted.

My insurance agent tapped me on the shoulder and brought me back to the real world. After about an hour the insurance guy told me that they could only cover about 75% of the damage, and that I would have to pay the other 25% myself. There was a lot of damage, how was I going to come up with the money to do that, especially since the studio would have to be closed while the studio was fixed again? I was at a loss of what to do.

The insurance agent told me that he would have his contractors here tomorrow morning to start fixing the damage. Because they weren't really sure what the cost was going to be, he said that they would go ahead and fix the place and I would owe them the extra money later, which was fine by me.

I called Rukia two hours after she had walked back home; I hoped that she was alright. I was really scared for her safety now, and I didn't want to let her out of my sight anymore until this fucker was back in jail.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Ichigo! What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, the studio got vandalized."

"Do they know who did it?"

"No," I lied. I didn't want her to know about the damage, it would only stress her out more and there was nothing that she could do about it at the moment anyway. "They only vandalized the studio though; they didn't get to my apartment."

"Well that's good I suppose."

"Yeah…Uh, could I stay at your apartment while they fix up the studio again? I'm sure that the construction is going to be kind of loud and it stresses me out to be over there right now…"

"Of course you can stay! You are always welcome here Ichigo. How long is construction going to take?"

"They told me a week or two, so not too long, but I can't open the studio until everything is fixed."

"I'm sorry Ichigo. I know how much you love the studio, and I can't imagine how you must be feeling right now…"

"It's ok Rukia; it's not your fault. Can I come over?"

"Of course you can! I'll be waiting…." she giggled.

"Thanks Rukia, I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Ok, bye Ichigo."

I folded the cell phone shut as I went upstairs to my apartment. I hope that Rukia doesn't think that we are spending too much time together; after all we hadn't been apart over the entire weekend until this morning.

I loved spending time with her; in fact it felt funny to be away from her, even for only a few hours. I packed a bag full of clothes and stuff that I would need to stay over at her place, including my laptop since I knew that I wasn't going to be back for a few days.

I started to walk down the street towards Rukia's apartment in deep contemplation. How was I going to keep this fucker away from her? Clearly he was somewhere in town stalking her, how else would he know that she had not only been to the studio but that she would be back? The messages etched into the wall were disturbing to say the least; they sounded like phrases from the letter she had received from her ex-boyfriend from what she had told me. He sounded completely crazy, and not crazy in a good way. What if he tried to hurt, or even kill her?

How could I even begin to protect her? I didn't own a weapon, although I was adept with my fists due to the need to teach bullies a lesson; I was always picked on and called a girl or a fag because I danced as I grew up. Kids could be really cruel.

As I walked up the steps to her apartment I decided that there was nothing that I could do to better the situation at the moment, so I didn't need to stress out about it. I would know what to do if the time came. I also didn't want to seem too stressed out and worry Rukia more than she probably already was. It wouldn't be fair to her.

RPOV

I heard a soft knock on my front door from the kitchen; Ichigo. I had been cooking lunch for the both of us. I never really cooked before, but I looked up some recipes on the internet and decided to try them out. My whole apartment smelled like rice, chicken and eggs as I made domburi.

I hoped that Ichigo was okay, he sounded worried on the phone; he was clearly trying to hide his emotions from me. I couldn't even imagine how he felt after having his studio vandalized, probably by some stupid teenagers to boot.

I remember how it felt to have my apartment ransacked, and I actually knew who did it. I was secretly glad that Ichigo was going to be staying at my apartment for the next couple of weeks, it felt so strange for him to be gone, even for a few hours at a time. I felt…empty? No, that wasn't quite right. I couldn't find adequate words to describe it.

I opened the door to a sullen Ichigo and motioned him into the apartment.

"How are you feeling Ichigo?"

"I'm alright, just a little shaken, that's all," he said as he gave me a slight smile.

"Are you hungry? I fixed lunch…"

"I am starving; thank you for cooking Rukia!" he said as he gave me a hug and rushed over to the stove to serve himself a bowl.

"I'm sure it's nothing compared to Yuzu's cooking…"

"What are you talking about? This is fantastic!" he said as he hurriedly shoved another bite into his mouth.

"I'm glad you like it," I said as I fixed some for myself and joined him at the table.

After we finished eating we went over to the couch. Ichigo flipped through channels and was looking at something or other on his laptop as I read my manga. I looked up from it after a few minutes to see Ichigo clearly deep in thought over something. I wonder, what is he thinking about?

IPOV

After Rukia and I sat on the couch after lunch I picked up my laptop and checked my e-mail; I hadn't done that all weekend. There wasn't much in my inbox, Yuzu had sent me an e-mail about the picnic from a few days ago, there was some junk mail, and then I found an interesting one. It was for a ballroom competition being held in a month. I always get these e-mails but I ignore them since I don't really dance, but this one caught my attention. While prizes for dancing competitions in terms of money were typically pretty small; this one had a big sponsor and was giving out a lot of cash to the first place winners.

I wondered… would Rukia want to do this with me? If we won, the money should be more than enough to cover the costs of repairing the studio that the insurance wouldn't cover, and if we didn't win it would still be really fun to do with her. She only knew the basics at this point; could I get her to competition level in a month? It seemed unlikely; the best dancers still took years before they even placed. But then again it wasn't like Rukia was an amateur at dancing; she just wasn't trained in ballroom – yet.

These thoughts reminded me that I should still be teaching her ballroom, damn it! We haven't had a lesson in at least a week; that is supposed to be my job! I guess that I have been so busy that we haven't had a chance. Well, I suppose now is as good of a time as any…

* * *

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, please review! -Kin'iro No Tenshi


	10. Love N Dancing

A/N: Hi everyone! This chapter is a little fluffy, but it is important to the story. I tried to make it fun and I hope that you like it. Sorry that I missed last week, I had a lot to do with school and such. I am almost finished writing this story as well; I think that it will be 15 chapters and an epilogue. Can anyone guess how I have been picking the titles for my chapters? I'm just curious if anyone noticed the pattern.

Thank you so much to KuroKuchiki and Aizawa Ayumu for the great reviews! Please read, review and enjoy!

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some violence and lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for language and some of Ichigo's horny thoughts.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, and such and such.

* * *

RPOV

Ichigo looked over at me while I was immersed in my manga while he closed his laptop and placed it off to the side. He looked down at me with intense eyes as he smirked. I gave him a questioning look while I looked up from my manga. What is he doing? He walked behind the couch that I was still sitting on and started shoving it towards the wall.

"Ichigo, what in the world are you doing?" I asked as I moved to sit on the back of the couch facing away from the wall.

"Moving furniture, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"Alright then, why are you moving the furniture around? I got it all just how I wanted it too," I pouted.

"I'll move it all back exactly where you want it when we're done."

"Done with what?"

"Rukia, how would you feel about competing?"

"Competing in what?"

"A ballroom competition."

"Why would you even ask me that? I barely know anything about ballroom dancing, I've taken, what? Two lessons maybe? It takes years to learn the skills to compete and not look like an embarrassment."

"Well that's why you're taking lessons, right? Besides, we can start lesson number three right now," he said as he reached his hand out toward me.

"You should find another girl to dance with at the competition; I am not nearly good enough at dancing, and I never will be," I said hoping that he didn't catch the waver in my voice as I looked away from him.

"I only want to dance with you Rukia. I don't care how we do at the competition; I just want to dance at it with you. You are way too hard on yourself. You are a great dancer, and I think that we would do really well in a competition. Besides…." he said as he pulled me closer to him, "You would look damn sexy in a ballroom dress."

I began to blush at his comment as he swept me up and began to move us around the room. There wasn't as much room in my apartment as there was in the studio but we made do.

"See Rukia? You are a natural at this. All we have to do is practice and we will be more than ready for next month."

"Next month?"

IPOV

We spent the next two hours dancing around her living room. I corrected her posture and began to draft the preliminary choreography in my head. We wouldn't really be able to practice some of the moves until the studio was fixed, but for now we would do what we can. After two hours Rukia looked exhausted.

"Can we stop practicing for now?" Rukia asked me sweating, panting and exhausted.

"Of course we can, here, let me get you some water," I said as I walked over to the kitchen to get her some ice water. I brought the glass back to the living room to find her lying on the back of the couch with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes as I brought the glass to her, her eyes still half-open.

"Do you want to go and take a nap?" I asked as she drank the cold glass of water. She only nodded her head in response; I clearly need to shorten our lessons until she builds up the stamina. I took the glass from her hands and picked her up bridal style, carrying her to her bedroom. I placed her softly on her bed as she curled in the cool sheets and instantly fell asleep. She looked so beautiful when she slept. As cute as she looked when she blushed, it was nice to not see her looking embarrassed and modest.

I closed the bedroom door softly behind me and decided that I was going to take a shower to wash the sweat off of me. I needed a cold shower anyways; it was very hard to play "teacher" when all I want to do is pick her up and take her to the bedroom.

As I stripped off my clothes and entered the shower, I couldn't help but think about how quickly she was picking up ballroom. I wished that she could see and understand her own progress; at this rate we will be more than ready to dance at that competition. I couldn't wait; it was going to be a lot of fun.

The cold felt great as the water hit my back. I had forgotten my own shampoo; she wouldn't mind if I used some of hers right? It's better than me smelling awful as I was sure I did. Her shampoo smelled like vanilla and lavender; it smelled a lot like her.

I washed the sweat and grime off of my body and dried myself with a big fluffy towel that hung next to the shower. After getting dry I pulled on a pair of basketball shorts from my bag and decided that I wanted to make dinner for the two of us while Rukia was sleeping.

I walked into her kitchen and started to look through the cabinets. There weren't a lot of plates or cooking supplies. I grabbed a pot out of the back of a cabinet and started cooking some rice. I dug around the refrigerator until I found some vegetables and began chopping them into pieces when I saw Rukia enter the kitchen out of the corner of my eye.

RPOV

I woke up from my nap slightly dazed and still exhausted. I turned in the bed so that I could stare at the ceiling. Did Ichigo really think that we could stand a chance at a ballroom competition?

No, I knew if Ichigo set his mind to something, then it would get done. If Ichigo believed that we could do well then we probably would. I was more worried about how he would react being at an actual competition after what happened the last time he was in one. I mean, he accidently killed his partner, that isn't something that you just "get over". It took him over two years to even so much as start dancing again. He seems confident now, but how would he feel closer to time, or even when we are actually there? Would he accidently drop me too? Now I was freaking out too much.

I pushed those thoughts aside and got out of bed. I could hear sounds coming from the kitchen, so I decided to walk over to the kitchen, only to find Ichigo chopping vegetables, shirtless no less. I could get used to that.

"I thought you said that you couldn't cook?" I asked.

"I can't, but who can really screw up rice and vegetables?"

"It smells good though," I said as my stomach growled loudly.

"I guess so, I thought that you might be hungry after all of that exercise," he said grinning at me.

He finished cooking the vegetables as I moved the couch back into its original position before our dance lesson today. Ichigo fixed our bowls and we curled up on the couch together to watch television.

"So Ichigo…"

"Yeah?"

"I've decided that I will go ahead and do the competition with you…"

"That's great!" he said to me with a bright gleam in his eyes. He looked like a child who had just been told that he can eat all of the ice cream he wants.

"Are you sure that we will be ready for the competition in time though?"

"You bet we will!" he exclaimed to me as he climbed on top of me to deliver a passionate kiss.

* * *

IPOV

"Wait, what?" Uryuu asked me as we and Renji all sat at a restaurant having our regular catch-up dinner.

"What, aren't you excited for me? I am finally dancing again!"

"I know, but isn't it a little soon to be going into a competition? You've only been dancing with her for a month now, and the competition is in two weeks. Not only that, but I thought that after… what happened you wouldn't be so excited about it."

"I know what I'm doing Uryuu, you don't need to worry about me. Besides, the studio is going to be finished tomorrow and I can't wait to get back in there. We can learn the full routine in two weeks. Rukia is a natural at it, and it will be a lot easier to practice at the studio. Don't worry so much," I said, effectively ending that conversation.

"Speaking of the studio, have they found the bastard that vandalized it yet?" Uryuu asked after a few moments of awkward silence, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"No, not yet. I contacted the police yesterday and they said that he is still on the run."

"So where is Rukia now?"

"She is actually having dinner with my family. They wanted to get to know her without having me around. I am not a big fan of the arrangement, but it is a lot better than having her be at home alone while that psycho is still on the loose."

"So Ichigo, what have you been doing all this time while the studio has been getting fixed up?" Renji asked after stuffing another pile of food into his mouth obnoxiously.

"We've mostly been hanging out at her apartment. There isn't much to do since both of our jobs are tied to the studio, so there isn't much to do but eat, sleep, and have mind-blowing sex." I mostly said the last part to make Renji uncomfortable and shut up, but it wasn't a lie. Over the past two weeks that I have spent at her place, the sex had been awesome.

"So is she a freak in the sheets?" Renji asked, clearly intrigued. So much for making him feel uncomfortable.

"I'm not answering that you pervert!"

"Oh come on, you brought it up!"

We finished our dinner laughing and having a good time. It was nice to have a guy's night. I loved spending time with Rukia; in fact I felt a little lonely without her there; but it was nice just to hang out with the guys. Hell, maybe I would bring her with me next time so that they could meet her. As I walked out of the restaurant towards my family's house, I wondered how Rukia was fairing…

* * *

Hooray for cliffhangers! I hope you enjoyed, please review! -Kin'iro No Tenshi


	11. The Full Monty

A/N: Hi everyone! I sincerely apologize that it has taken me so freaking long (six weeks) to update, I had final exams so I did not have time to write or post, heck I barely had time to check my e-mail! Now that the holidays are over, I can get back on track. I am hoping to finish writing the story this week or next week; it doesn't go on too much longer. It will be 16 chapters including the epilogue, so we are coming towards the end. This chapter is a short, fluffy, smutty one, so enjoy it!

Thank you so much to shnizlefritz, and Aizawa Ayumu Oz Vessalius for the great reviews for the last chapter! I really love reading them! Please read, review and enjoy!

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some violence and lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated M for dirty lemons.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, if I did it would really earn its place on Adult Swim here in America *wink wink*

* * *

RPOV

Maybe I should have stayed home alone instead of having dinner with Ichigo's family without him. Oh well, too late for that now…

"So Third Daughter, when are you and Ichigo going to start having my grandchildren?"

It had gone like this all dinner long. Isshin had taken to calling me his "Third Daughter" and wouldn't stop asking me very uncomfortable questions. I wasn't sure that the redness that invaded my cheeks would ever go away.

"Dad, you need to stop asking her so many stupid questions, don't you see how embarrassed she is?" Karin asked her father.

"Yes dad, please stop with all of this interrogating!" Yuzu pleaded. I was so grateful to the both of them for sticking up for me since Ichigo wasn't here.

"Oh Masaki, why have my children all turned against me?" he cried, looking at the huge poster of the woman on the wall that I could only assume was Masaki. I wondered if she was their mother…

Just then there was a knock on the front door.

"I'll get it!" Yuzu cried out as she ran for the door. "Ichi-nii!"

I turned around to see Ichigo standing at the front door. "Are you ready to go home Rukia? I'm sure that you have had more than enough of my family for one day," he said as he smiled at me.

"But Ichi-nii, we love having her over! Wasn't it fun Rukia?" Yuzu asked.

"Of course it was Yuzu," I said as I smiled back at her. "Thank you so much for having me over for dinner everyone!"

"You're welcome, come back again soon, and preferably knocked up!" Isshin answered.

Ichigo and I left the house and began walking back to my apartment.

"So did you enjoy having dinner with my family?"

"Yes, of course I did!" I lied. It's not that I didn't enjoy myself; I was just uncomfortable and embarrassed the entire time. I finally understood why Ichigo had warned me about his father's behavior before.

"Ichigo, who was Masaki?" I asked quietly.

"Masaki was my mother," he said with a tinge of sadness in his voice. I didn't want to push him further, but he continued on.

"She died when I was ten years old. She fell into the river that runs through town and drowned," he said as he looked down at the ground.

"I'm sorry Ichigo," I said as I grabbed his hand and entwined his fingers in mine. We walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence.

IPOV

We got all of the way back to the apartment before Rukia decided that it was time to change the subject.

"So did you have fun eating dinner with your friends?" she asked.

"I did, it was great to catch up with those guys."

"So what did you all talk about?" she asked as she changed into her pajamas. We had already walked into her bedroom to get ready to go to bed.

"Oh not much, Renji is planning on quitting his job, and I discussed your dress for the competition with Uryuu since he is making it."

"What's it going to look like?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out," I teased as I pulled my nightshirt over my head.

"So did you guys talk about me at all besides what I am going to be wearing in a couple of weeks?" she asked as she buttoned up her own nightshirt.

"Yep, I talked about what we've been doing while I've been staying over here, including the amazing sex…"

"WHAT?"

"What?"

"Your friends know that we have sex?" she looked mortified. I didn't see what the big deal was, it's not like I even really talked about it. Besides, I was just teasing her a little.

"What's the big deal? Of course they know; guys talk about these things. Besides, it's not like I went into any detail or anything; I'm not that much of a pervert."

"And how am I supposed to act when I meet them now that I know that they know that we have sex?"

"Like you would if you didn't know that they know about it. Relax Rukia; it's not a big deal. Most people have sex."

"Just for that, you are not getting laid tonight," she stated as she curled up under the covers.

"What? Oh come on Rukia…"

"Nope."

"Please?"

"Nope."

RPOV

I was horrified! How could he have talked to his friends about us being intimate? Now that's all I'm going to think about when I eventually meet them that they know that Ichigo and I have sex. Granted, it was really good sex, but still, he didn't have to share!

Ichigo lifted up the covers and joined me in bed. I was facing away from him still flustered and angry. He put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him.

"Come on baby…"

"No way, that is not going to happen tonight."

"Please?" he asked again, this time asking softly into the shell of my ear. I could feel his hot breath wash over the side of my face. Stay strong! I was only kidding myself; I knew that I wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer. I was just going to have to come up with some other form of revenge.

He started nibbling on my earlobe and kissing his way down the side of my neck, and I accidently let a moan escape. He took this as my consent. Damn him and his sexy ways.

He pulled me towards him to turn me onto my back as he brought his lips to mine in a fiery, passionate kiss. His warm hand slipped under my shirt and began stroking my stomach as he continued his kisses down my jaw line and onto my neck.

He slipped his hand out of my shirt and I groaned at the loss of warmth and contact. He started to unbutton my shirt down my chest until it was bare for him to see. I helped him slip the shirt down my arms as he wrestled out of his own shirt. After discarding the piece of clothing, he pulled me into his chest as we rolled over onto his back so that I was on top of him. He grabbed my left breast and started stroking and flicking my already hardened nipple. I gasped at the contact as I leaned over for another zealous kiss. I had decided that I wanted rough animalistic sex tonight; I wasn't going to put up with the loving sex that we usually have.

I dug my nails into his shoulders as we kissed and pulled him over and on top of me. I started to rake my nails down his hard chest, physically asking for what I wanted tonight. Ichigo grunted as he began to nibble back down my neck, when I felt his teeth clamp onto my shoulder as he started sucking. I let out a desperate moan of satisfaction as he continued performing such painful pleasure.

After he was satisfied with the mark he had left, he sucked and nibbled his way down to my breasts, taking a nipple into his mouth and biting it lightly. I let out a yelp of pleasure and he just chuckled into my chest.

Without any warning, Ichigo thrust himself into me, filling me up completely; but it didn't last long. He began thrusting hard and deep into me at a fast pace. This was exactly what I needed tonight. I began to buck my hips to match his thrusts as he grunted and I moaned. I knew at this rate that I wasn't going to last long, and judging from the noises that Ichigo was making, he wasn't going to either.

Suddenly, he pulled out of me. I let out a sad whimper at the loss of contact as he flipped me over so that I was lying on my stomach and he was still on top of me.

"Get on your hands and knees," he commanded in a husky voice. I followed his instructions.

All of a sudden he was inside of me again, only from behind this time. Now we were really having animalistic sex. He thrusted deeper and faster than he had before; it felt amazing. My orgasm came hard and fast, my muscles tightening around him as my juices pumped out of me. I felt the wet hot spurts of his own orgasm as my muscles continued to milk him long and hard.

Exhausted and panting we separated from each other and flopped into the bed on our backs. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me to his chest. Ichigo fell asleep quickly, but I stayed up just a bit longer to plan out my revenge for what Ichigo did tonight.

* * *

Who doesn't love a smutty lemon? Hope you enjoyed, please review! –Kin'iro No Tenshi


	12. Dance With Me

A/N: Hi everyone! I have finally finished writing this whole story, hooray! There should be no more problems with posting on time (every Tuesday) since all I have to do now is edit. This chapter is plot progression and heartwarming moments, so I hope that you enjoy it! If you like what I write, feel free to check out the IchiRuki one-shot that I wrote for the New Year a few days ago, especially if you enjoy lemons. I hope that you all are having a great start to the year!

Thank you so much to shnizlefritz , Aizawa Ayumu Oz Vessalius, misshansson96 and bostonterrier24 for the great reviews! I loved reading your sweet reviews, and I am so glad that you are all enjoying the story so far. Please review if you have the time, I love reading reviews; it makes my day to know that you read my stories and hopefully you enjoy them.

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some violence and lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated M (just to be safe) for limey-ness, and for Ichigo's inner monologue being a frustrated potty mouth.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, I just make its characters do dirty things.

* * *

IPOV

I drowsily woke up in the morning, not feeling Rukia's weight on my chest. I thought back to the night before, wow that was fun. I didn't know that Rukia had such a wild side; I was going to have to explore that more often.

I reached my arm across the bed to try and find her, but my arm only met cool sheets. Where did she go? I groggily got out of bed to go and look for her. I pulled on a pair of loose basketball shorts and left the bedroom. I could hear the shower running in the bathroom. Since Rukia was taking a shower, I decided that I could go and make some breakfast, until…

"Ohhh…" I could hear her moan in the bathroom. I rushed back to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Are you okay Rukia?" I asked worried as I tried to turn the doorknob, only to find it locked.

"Ahh…ohhh..." she continued, but now that I listened closely it didn't sound like she was in pain. She continued to moan and groan on the other side of the door. Then I realized…

"Let me in Rukia," I said getting hotter and hornier by the second.

"Shut up, you're ruining it for me, go away."

She continued with her moans and groans. I couldn't believe that she was pleasuring herself in the bathroom. Didn't we have fun last night? I started to imagine her on the other side of that door, naked and touching herself as water poured over her body…shit. This was fucking torture! I was about to start banging on the door again when I could hear her whimper and moan louder, until she let out a small scream and all of her sexy noises stopped. Damn it!

A few minutes later she came out of the bathroom wrapped in a bath robe. I stared at her angry and horny.

"That's what you get for telling your friends that we have sex and for not listening to me last night."

Bitch. "Well if you can take care of yourself than can you at least take care of me too?" I asked gesturing my hand towards the prominent tent in made of my shorts.

"Nope!" she smiled at me as she entered her bedroom and locked the door behind her. Damn it!

I entered the bathroom to take care of my own needs. At least I had going to the studio for the first time in two weeks to look forward to today…

RPOV

Hahaha, revenge is sweet! The look on Ichigo's face was perfect, flustered and shocked. That will teach him to tell people about our intimate moments and for being too sexy to resist.

I dug through my closet trying to find something to wear for the day. I knew that today was the day that we could go and see the finished work on the studio and I knew that Ichigo would be excited about it so I wanted to look special for the occasion. I picked out a teal dress that was loose and flowy on me and some brown flats. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail as well.

I left the bedroom to head to the kitchen and make some breakfast. I passed the bathroom that Ichigo was still "taking care of business" in and sniggered to myself. I knew that he was going to enjoy the rest of his day though.

I started cooking pancakes in the kitchen when I heard Ichigo leave the bathroom. When he walked into the kitchen; he looked much calmer than he had before. He sat down at the kitchen table waiting for the food to finish cooking.

"Feel better?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," he teased.

I snickered to myself as I took the pot off of the stove and served up our breakfast of eggs and bacon. We both ate the whole contents of the pot quickly and left the apartment to go and see the studio hand in hand. We got to the studio and the front, and frankly, it hadn't looked like it had ever been vandalized. I looked up to see Ichigo's face full of delight.

"Come on!" he said as he pulled my arm towards the front of the building. He unlocked the front door and ushered me inside. It looked absolutely beautiful. The floors had all been redone and I noticed that the mirrors on the walls were all shiny and new. Everything was in its correct place, just like it was before; the only difference was that everything looked newer than it had before.

"Ichigo, how damaged was this place?"

"Very. Everything had been torn up; the mirrors had all been smashed out. It was such a mess."

He looked like a child in a toy store looking around at his studio. It must have been such a relief for him to see the studio look nice again. That and he could start holding lessons here again. The only lessons he had been giving were to me in the living room of my apartment over the last couple of weeks.

I felt myself improving with every lesson, and I thought that I could actually do ok at this competition. I had never competed with a partner before, whenever I had competed in ballet it was only me. You only had to worry about yourself and your own abilities, whereas now I have to rely on Ichigo as much as he has to rely on me to do well.

"Hey Rukia?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you wait down here for a minute, I am going to go up to the apartment really quick to unpack my stuff and clean up before you come upstairs, okay?"

"Sure."

IPOV

I couldn't have been more pleased with how the studio turned out, it looked brand new. I was stunned, you couldn't even tell that words had been scratched into the wall, these contractors did a great job, I was really impressed. I couldn't help but ogle the place. It looked like Rukia couldn't help herself either, and she hadn't even seen the damage.

I grabbed the bag that I had taken to Rukia's apartment and began to walk up the stairs towards my apartment. I entered my apartment to see that it looked exactly as I had left it two weeks ago, except that there was something taped to the refrigerator in the kitchen. I dropped my bag on the ground by the door and walked over towards the note. It was folded in half and labeled, "To Ichigo".

_Do you like what I did to your precious studio? Just imagine what will happen next time if you don't break up with Rukia. That bitch is mine. She owes me and there is nothing that you can to repay that debt for her. If you stay with her, you will be hurt. You've been warned._

I crumpled up the note in my fist and slid my back down the refrigerator until I was sitting on the floor. This can't be happening. How in the hell did this psychopath know my name and how did he get into my apartment? Are we safe anywhere?

All I wanted to do in that moment was hunt down this fucker and kill him myself if I had to. I would do anything to keep Rukia safe. She will never be safe until this guy is either dead or locked up in a prison that he can't escape from. I could feel the anger boiling up inside me and the need to punch something really hard, preferably him.

After sitting on the floor for ten minutes I got up and grabbed my bag again, walking to my room to unpack my clothing. After I finished and picked up just a little bit where I had missed before, I went back downstairs to get Rukia. As I climbed down the stairs, I saw her sitting at my desk looking at something.

RPOV

As Ichigo went upstairs I continued to look around the studio. Everything looked so nice, almost nicer than how it looked before all of the damage was done. I wondered what the studio must have looked like after it had been torn to shreds. I couldn't even imagine how Ichigo must have felt, seeing his pride and joy destroyed. I remembered how calm he was when he had come back to my apartment after taking care of the police and such. I wondered if he had hidden away some of that sadness and anger from me.

Once I had my fill of the studio I went and sat down at the desk that Ichigo had in the corner of the studio, I assumed to do paperwork on and such. The chair was comfy and the desk was really nice. I was bored and curiosity got the better of me a little, Ichigo was taking a really long time to finish upstairs. I knew that I shouldn't have been snooping around the drawers of his desk, but what could it hurt? He wouldn't have anything to hide from me here anyway.

I started opening them one by one just peering at the contents of the drawers. It was all unorganized stacks of random papers until I got to the drawer that contained an overturned picture frame on top of its contents. I picked it up and turned it around expecting to see a picture of his family, but it was of Ichigo and a gorgeous, busty young girl with orange hair; much prettier than me.

Ichigo was in a nice suit and the girl that he had his arm around was in a light blue dress; it looked like a dress for a ballroom competition. What struck me was how happy and excited they looked, like two young kids going to prom or something. Ichigo used to have such a better….

"Rukia? What are you looking at?" Ichigo asked as he came back down the stairs.

"Is….is this?"

"Yeah, that's Orihime. That was taken the night she died."

"You both look so happy."

"We were at the time. That was right before our first big ballroom competition."

"Do you love her?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer, but needing to know for the sake of my own sanity. This girl seemed so perfect for him. She was gorgeous, she was a great dancer, and you could even tell from the picture how sweet and caring she was. Why would Ichigo ever settle for me?

"I thought that I did at the time, but you've made me realize that I didn't. Not in the romantic, lovey-dovey way at least. I loved her as a good friend, but nothing really more."

"Are you just saying that?"

"What do you mean, Rukia?"

"Do you just want to convince me that you love me? I don't get how you could settle for me after having someone like her."

"What are you talking about? I don't deserve a girl like you, especially not after what happened to Orihime. I can't believe that I managed to find someone so sweet, sexy, smart, creative, fun and caring who actually likes me back despite my past."

"But I'm damaged goods. I have no family, few friends, and I've been abused. Why would you ever want me?"

"Because I love you, Rukia Kuchiki."

I couldn't hold back my tears any longer. I started to cry and Ichigo rushed over to me, knelt down in front of the chair I was sitting in, and wrapped me in his warm and protective arms. I bawled into his chest for what seemed like forever. I knew that I didn't deserve his love and affection. How could he feel like he didn't deserve mine? I wasn't anyone special. But maybe I was special to him, just like he was special to me.

In that moment of tears and sadness, I realized how much I appreciated him and how much I loved him back. I didn't know if I could live without him anymore, which was so odd because we had only known each other for a few months. But I knew.

"_Sniff_… I love you too, Ichigo Kurosaki."

* * *

Aww! Wasn't that sweet (and really cheesy)? I hope that you enjoyed it, please review! -Kin'iro No Tenshi


	13. All That Jazz

A/N: Hi everyone! Here is the next chapter to the story; I think that it will make you smile! It's very sweet.

Thank you so much to jackie, Aizawa Ayumu Oz Vessalius, Bostonterrier24 and misshansson96 for the great reviews! I loved reading them! Please review if you have the time, I love reading reviews; it makes my day to know that you read my stories and hopefully you enjoy them.

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some violence and lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for Ichigo's potty-mouthed inner dialogue.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, I just make its characters bend to my will.

* * *

IPOV

I couldn't believe that she said it back! She told me that she loved me too! I knew that she was crying, but I couldn't help but feel my heart swell when she said those words to me, wow I was pussy whipped. Oh well, if it was for Rukia, I certainly didn't mind.

After she calmed down from crying, I lead her back upstairs to my apartment and laid her down in my bed so that she could take a nap; she looked really tired. I went into the kitchen and began to cook some lunch for the both of us.

I couldn't believe that she would be so jealous of Orihime. I mean, yeah she was pretty and had a great rack, but she was nothing in comparison to Rukia. I felt like Rukia knew me and understood me on a much deeper level than Orihime ever could have, and had I not lost Orihime that night, I would have never met Rukia. I owed Orihime a great debt because she inevitably led me to the true love of my life, Rukia.

I finished making the macaroni and cheese as I heard footsteps pad down the hallway towards me.

"Are you okay, Rukia?" I asked as she came over to sleepily hug me from behind.

"I am now. What are you making?"

"Macaroni and cheese, do you want some?"

Her only response was the nodding of her head that I felt against my back. She went and sat down at the kitchen table while I dished the yellow noodles into a bowl for each of us.

"Did you have a good nap?" I asked her as I sat down at the table with the two bowls, setting one in front of her with a fork stuck in it.

"I did. I'm so sorry about earlier, I don't know what I was thinking…."

"It's okay, don't worry about," I said sending her a reassuring smile. "You know that we need to go into town today right?"

"For what?" she asked me as she stuffed her face with food. She was clearly very hungry; I had never seen her clean her plate so fast before.

"For your dancing costume, my friend Uryuu is making it for you and you need to have it fitted before the competition."

"Is it pretty?"

"You'll see," I smirked at her. The truth was that I didn't know what it looked like, and if Uryuu kept his promise I wouldn't know until the day of the competition. I wanted it to be a complete and total surprise for myself.

RPOV

After I woke up from my nap I still felt heavy and sleepy. I got up out of Ichigo's bed and stumbled over towards the door as a wave of nausea took over my body. I got to the bathroom as quickly as I could and puked into the toilet. It must have been from being so stressed out and emotional earlier. I felt a lot better though. I brushed my teeth and used some mouthwash and made my way down to the kitchen and smelled something delicious.

I decided that I wasn't going to tell Ichigo that I got sick in his bathroom. I didn't want him to worry about me and possibly pull us out of the competition. It would break his heart if I couldn't do this competition with him. Besides, it was probably a result from our moment earlier anyway, it was no big deal.

I sat down at the table and ate my food, macaroni and cheese has never tasted so good in my entire life. After I finished my food I found the small drawer that I had started keeping here in Ichigo's apartment. It had some extra clothing for me in case I needed it. I pulled out some short jean shorts and a light blue T-shirt to wear to the fitting.

I was actually really excited to see my costume, Ichigo was keeping it a secret from me and now I could finally see what it would look like. Ever since I decided to participate in this competition, I have been imagining myself in all kinds of ballroom costumes. I was hoping for something flashy and fun, and something that I would look really good in. After all, I was doing this more for Ichigo than I was for myself.

Ichigo and I made our way downtown arm in arm. It wasn't a very long walk, only about 7 blocks away from the studio. We walked quietly, but I was really excited and I think that Ichigo was too. We reached the front of the small tailor shop, where Ichigo opened the door and ushered me inside.

The little shop was beautiful. There were racks upon racks of beautiful dresses and suits. On the other side of the room were a pedestal and a 180 degree mirror with brighter lighting. The rest of the shop was softly lit. A man with dark hair and glasses approached me from behind the counter.

"You must be Rukia, my name is Uryuu and I have been working on your dress for quite some time," he said to me as he glanced over my shoulder. I looked behind me to find Ichigo but he wasn't there anymore. Where did he go off to? I thought that he wanted to see the dress too, I felt a little disappointed that he wasn't going to be here with me.

"Come this way please," Uryuu said as he ushered me towards the back of the store. He walked up to a rack and pulled out a gorgeous red dancing costume. He handed the garment to me and kindly pointed me towards the dressing room.

After putting the dress on I left the dressing room and stepped on the pedestal in front of the mirror. The dress was absolutely stunning. It was fire-truck red and made of a satiny material. The hem of the dress was ruffled and asymmetrical, hitting my upper thigh to my knees. It was decorated in swirls of iridescent gold and orange glitter and shimmer. It had long sleeves that were covered in the same design as the rest of the dress. This dress was the dress of my dreams; I couldn't believe how beautiful I actually looked. I wish that Ichigo was here to see the dress too.

"Do you like it?" Uryuu asked as he came up behind me with very tall red stilettos in hand.

"Yes, I love it! Ichigo said that you made this?"

"Yes, I did."

"You did a beautiful job; I've never seen a more striking dress much less worn one."

"I'm glad that you like it, I think that Ichigo would have killed me if you didn't…." he said handing me the shoes.

"Am I supposed to wear these?"

"Yes, you'll need to start practicing your routine in these shoes."

I looked at the menacing looking heels; I knew that I was going to sprain my ankle in these shoes. I put them on my feet after nearly falling over twice; and they were shockingly comfortable.

"These are actually really comfortable Uryuu."

"They should be, those are top of the line dancing shoes. If they weren't comfortable they would be really difficult to dance in," he said as he knelt down to begin marking where the dress needed to be altered.

"Are you good friends with Ichigo?"

"Yes, we've been friends since high school, in fact we still have dinner every once in awhile with our friend Renji to catch up and keep in touch."

I cringed at this knowing what Ichigo had told them about our… love life.

"I've heard a lot about you Rukia. Ever since you and Ichigo met, he can't stop talking about you. All good things, I promise. He really loves you," he smiled up at me. Knowing that Ichigo talked about me, even when I wasn't around, made my heart swell.

"Well, I really love him back. He's probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I wonder why he left after dropping me off here; I thought that he wanted to see the dress."

"He does, but he wants to keep it a surprise to himself until the day of the competition."

"Oh, okay then," I said, now feeling a little better about Ichigo dropping me off here.

After that conversation we sat in a comfortable silence as Uryuu finished pinning and tucking the dress to mark where he needed to tailor the dress. After he was finished I carefully took off the dress in the dressing room and texted Ichigo that I was ready to go back home. By the time I was handing the dress back to Uryuu, Ichigo texted me back and said that he was waiting outside for me. I thanked Uryuu profusely for working so hard on my dress and for doing such a wonderful job and met Ichigo outside, taking those 4 inch stilettos with me to practice dancing in.

IPOV

I lead Rukia into the door of Uryuu's shop and waited by the door until I saw the owner himself; I knew that she would be in good hands with him. As much as I really wanted to see what Uryuu had created for Rukia, but I was on my own mission while Rukia was getting fitted in her dress.

I started walking down the street with my hands in the pockets of my jacket towards my destination about five blocks away. I had been thinking about this errand for a long time now, but I spent so much time with Rukia that I could never be away from her long enough to run this errand. Even this situation was a bit of a stretch, but I hoped that Uryuu would cover for me so that it wouldn't be too obvious what I was doing; I wanted this to be a complete surprise for Rukia.

The bell chimed on the door as I entered the store. It felt a bit awkward to be in here, but I knew that it would be worth it. I browsed the cases of merchandise looking for the perfect one; I felt like I would know it when I saw it.

"Can I help you?" I heard from behind me. Standing at the counter was a man with blonde hair and a green striped hat; he looked like he was probably the owner of the shop.

"No, I'm alright. I'll let you know when I pick something out, thank you though," I responded politely. He nodded his head at me and went back to whatever he was doing before.

I continued to look around the shop when I found it; it was perfect. Dainty and beautiful, just like her. It wasn't gaudy or tacky or over the top. It was subtle and stunning. I called over the shop owner and pointed to what I wanted. I handed him my credit card and he placed the item in a small box as he gave me a knowing grin.

I looked at my watch and realized that I was running late and that Rukia would be done soon. I placed the small velvet box holding a shiny new engagement ring in my pocket and started walking back towards Uryuu's shop.

It had been something that I had been thinking about for several weeks now, all I knew was that Rukia was who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I decided that I was going to propose to her after the competition, no matter how well we did.

I didn't even care about the prize money anymore, the repairs to the studio were not as expensive as originally estimated and I knew that I could pay it off over time. All I cared about was dancing with the girl of my dreams and spending the rest of my life with her. Even if we got last place at the competition, I wanted it to be one of the happiest days of our lives.

I received a text message from her as I got close to the shop; I responded that I was waiting outside as I came into view of the shop. She stepped outside carrying a pair of dancing heels.

"Do I really have to dance in these Ichigo?" she asked as we started walking back to my apartment.

"Yes, you do. Did you like the dress?"

"Yes, I love it; I think that you will love it too. Why don't you want to see it?"

"I want it to be a surprise for myself, and I trust that Uryuu would make you the sexiest dress at that competition."

"He really did, I still can't believe how pretty it is."

"Good, I'm glad."

We walked the rest of the way back in an easy silence. We walked inside the studio and decided that we would go ahead and practice some more for the competition, I couldn't believe that it was coming up so fast.

While we were dancing later that evening perfecting the routine, all I could think about was the ring sitting in my desk at the corner of the studio; I figured that she would never really look in there again after she found Orihime's picture there, it was the perfect hiding place. I couldn't wait for the day of the competition to come; I had a feeling that it was going to be one of the best days of my life.

* * *

Awww, yay! The next chapter is the competition! I hope you enjoyed, please review! –Kin'iro No Tenshi


	14. Mad Hot Ballroom

A/N: Hi everyone! Here is the climax to the story; I hope that you like it! After this it is only one more chapter and the epilogue, I hope that you enjoy this chapter!

Thank you so much to shnizlefritz, Aizawa Ayumu Oz Vessalius, bostonterrier24 and misshansson96 for the lovely reviews on the last chapter! Please review if you have the time, I love reading reviews; it makes my day to know that you read my stories and hopefully you enjoy them.

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some violence and lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated M for mild violence (more to be safe than anything else, it's not very graphic) and bad language.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach, I just make its characters follow my commands.

* * *

IPOV

I could feel their piercing stares. Some were forgiving, some still angry, some oblivious to what had happened just a few years before today at a very similar event. I could hear the hushed whispers and scathing, judging tones. Some were surprised that I even came back, some were bitter that I did. I thought that people would have forgotten or forgiven me by now. People were wondering who I was with; who she was. They had never seen her or heard of her before and were of course curious and trying to figure her out without actually approaching her or talking to her like a decent human being would.

I felt so uncomfortable; like I didn't belong here and I didn't feel like I was welcomed here anymore. The only thing keeping me from leaving the room and leaving the dancing world forever was the beautiful woman standing next to me, holding my hand and squeezing it in reassurance. I was surprised that she felt the need to comfort me when this was her first time at an event like this, but I was so happy that she did. Only she could make me feel so at ease in such an uncomfortable situation and judgmental environment.

I tried to ignore the whispers and comments and focus on the task ahead of us, of doing well in this competition. I didn't want to do well for my own sake, but for Rukia's. It wasn't about the cash prize for me anymore. I wanted to prove to Rukia once and for all that she was a great dancer, and that I wasn't the only one who thought so. I wanted the judges to give her the praise and accolades that she deserved, that she earned through her hard work and practice. I remembered the hours and hours of rehearsal we did to prepare for this night. Rukia had improved so much and had done so well, I was so proud of her.

We walked hand in hand towards a table and sat down together. Damn she looked gorgeous tonight; Uryuu had done an amazing job with her outfit. Her dress was bright red and covered in swirls and glitter, she almost looked like she was on fire. Hell, gorgeous didn't even begin to describe how she looked. I was so proud to have such a beautiful and intelligent woman to dance with, and hopefully be with for the rest of my life, if I was lucky. I absentmindedly thumbed the small velvet box in my pocket with the hand that wasn't holding hers, and then I became anxious and nervous about proposing to her. I was hopeful that she would accept me though. I decided that I was going to propose after the whole thing was over in a quiet corner of the room. I didn't want it to be a big deal to anyone but her and I.

RPOV

I was nervous to be here, but awestruck as well. The grand room was beautiful, as were the people waiting for their turn to dance. I held Ichigo's hand as we walked across the room; I could tell that he was nervous, and I tried to silently comfort him by squeezing his hand. Ichigo looked so sharp and sexy in his tuxedo; I didn't realize that he could possibly look any hotter than he already was. I hoped that he liked my dress; he seemed to considering that he couldn't stop staring at me.

I had lost some weight recently as I was still getting sick a couple of times a week, but Ichigo didn't know about it. I figured that it was just my body's reaction to the stress of this competition. It would go away after this was all over.

Once we sat down at a table I started to hear some snide comments and remarks about us. They were mostly about the last time Ichigo was at a ballroom competition and the sad events that went along with it. People were also wondering who I was and if I knew about what happened a few years ago. I had expected this though, and I decided to ignore them for Ichigo's sake. Frankly it really didn't bother me that much, I was here to make Ichigo happy, and no one else. I did hope that we would do well though.

The first couple was called to the dance floor and the competition began. I was amazed at how beautifully every couple seemed to dance, and I started to doubt my own abilities. Surely I must be dragging Ichigo down in this competition; I was not nearly as good as these other dancers.

Ichigo seemed to sense my doubts. He leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, "You are just as good, if not better, than these guys, trust me." Only Ichigo could make me feel better in this situation.

It wasn't long until we heard our names called to come over to the floor and begin. Butterflies started to flutter in my stomach and I got very anxious, but Ichigo squeezed my hand and gave me a look of confidence and reassurance. We walked hand in hand to the center of the dance floor, I took a deep breath, and we began the routine that we had practiced what felt like hundreds of times over the past few weeks.

IPOV

The routine was going flawlessly, and Rukia looked beautiful during it, at least from my viewpoint. The way that her dress caught the light as she spun and twirled was breathtaking, this had to be the best night of my life hands down. I could see that the people on the sidelines who had before been cruel and curious were now intrigued and impressed. It serves them right for being so high and mighty. I knew in my heart that Rukia was an amazing dancer, and now everyone else could see it too, but most of all I hoped that Rukia could see it.

Then all of a sudden déjà vu hit me. I could hear people in the crowd gasping, and I even heard a scream. It was exactly like a few years ago. I sinking feeling hit my stomach as Rukia screamed and fell against me, I dropped to my knee and cradled her in my arms only to see blood running down the side of her dress. I looked up to see what had happened only to see a man with blue hair and a malicious smirk holding a knife dripping with blood – Rukia's blood.

My eyes went red. I lost all control over my sensibilities and body. I carefully laid the semi-conscious Rukia at my side on the ground and stood up to face her attacker. People around me were shouting for someone to call the police or get an ambulance. My only concern was killing him.

Grimmjow held his knife out in front of himself as I approached him. "I told you that she would pay for what she did; the bitch deserves it. That whore deserves to die."

He took a swing at me with his knife but he missed and I took advantage of it and hit him square in the face where he was knocked to the ground. In my rage I couldn't remember much between that point and the point where the police arrived, and I do remember seeing Grimmjow as a bloody mess at my feet.

The police stormed into the event only to find that the fight was already over. I ran to Rukia, she was still lying on the ground bleeding profusely from her stab wound. She was breathing heavily with tears streaming down her face and was not able to speak. I could tell that she was in a lot of pain, but I couldn't do anything to help her. I felt so lost and hopeless in that moment. I just grabbed her hand, held it to my chest, and told her that everything was going to be just fine, even though I wasn't sure that was going to happen.

The emergency responders took care of her first; they tried to stop the bleeding and stabilize her. I was so upset, how could I have let this happen to her? Damn it! I should have been paying more attention! Why couldn't I have been injured instead of her? Why couldn't he have come for me instead of her?

It was so hard for me to watch the responders work on her, to watch them probing her and helping her to breath with a mask over her face. One came over to me and asked if I was hurt, but I brushed him off and told him that I was fine. I really was fine; I only had a couple of scrapes and scratches from the fight. Grimmjow however was severely injured from my attack. Some responders were working on him, although he certainly didn't deserve their attention and care.

The police came over to talk to me; I answered their questions while never taking my eyes off of Rukia. I knew that they were going to need to take her to the emergency room, and there was no way in hell they were going to take her to the hospital without me.

The police decided that they were not going to press charges against me considering that Grimmjow attacked first and I was defending Rukia, not to mention that he was a dangerous fugitive in the first place. Why hadn't I said anything about his threats to Rukia? Maybe if she had known that he was still after her she would have been ok. Why didn't I tell the police about the threatening note I found in my apartment? What if they could have caught him before he got to Rukia?

The logical side of my mind was telling me that there was nothing that I could have done to prevent this, but I felt so guilty. This was entirely my fault. If Rukia and I had never met, maybe she would have been safe. But then I thought about how much I loved her, and how important she was to me now. She was my life, my world. She made the rain go away. She woke me up and brought me out of my depression over Orihime. As Rukia lay on the floor getting patched up by paramedics; I realized that my life had no purpose without her in it.

After about twenty minutes, the paramedics were ready to load her in the ambulance to take her to the emergency room, but they had basically stopped the bleeding. After they loaded her onto the truck I followed suit and the ambulance drove us both towards the hospital.

* * *

I know that the end there was a little cheesy, but what part of this story isn't cheesy? Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it had to be done! Please review! –Kin'iro No Tenshi


	15. Body Rock

A/N: Hi everyone! This is the last official chapter of the story; it's hard to believe that the story is almost over! This chapter is full of feelings, angst, and a sweet, happy ending, I squeal in delight every time I read how the chapter ends.

I want to thank you all for reading the story and I hope that you all really liked it, I know that I enjoyed writing it for you. I will post the epilogue next Tuesday and then the Tuesday after that will be the start of a new story, so be on the lookout for it!

Thank you so much to Aizawa Ayumu Oz Vessalius, shnizlefritz, misshansson96 and for the lovely reviews of the last chapter! Please review if you have the time, I love reading reviews; it makes my day to know that you read my stories and I really hope that you like reading them.

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some violence and lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for one instance of bad language.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach; I just make its characters fall in love. 3

* * *

IPOV

During the ambulance ride to the closest hospital I held Rukia's hand against my chest as the paramedics kept careful watch over her vital signs. She was still breathing heavily, but at least she wasn't bleeding as much anymore. It seemed that she was going to be okay, at least so far. I really hoped that she was going to be alright.

After we arrived at the hospital I was sent away to wait in the waiting room as Rukia went immediately into surgery. I waited what felt like hours and hours. I palmed the small velvet box in my pocket, rotated it around, and even took it out to look at the ring inside. How would Rukia ever accept me now? I couldn't even protect her from Grimmjow. I couldn't keep her past monsters away from her. Why would she ever want to be with a man who couldn't protect her? So much for this being the best night of my life, this was now one of the worst nights of my life.

I felt so weak and useless just sitting out in the waiting room, hoping that Rukia would be alright. I had no idea of how injured she was, but I did remember how heavily she had been bleeding. I could only hope that she would be alright and that the doctors could stitch her up so that the bleeding would stop.

After about an hour, a nurse came out to talk to me. Apparently Rukia was going to be just fine; the stab wound wasn't as deep as they had thought it to be based on how much she bled. She needed to stay in recovery overnight, but I was told that I could take her home in the morning. I was so thankful. The nurse led me into her private room so that I could see her.

She was simply sleeping on the bed peacefully; she wasn't breathing heavily anymore and didn't seem to be in any pain. I pulled up a chair next to her bed, held her hand in my hands, and stared at her deep in my own thoughts until she woke up.

RPOV

I slowly opened my eyes to find myself lying down in a strange white place. What happened to me? All I could remember was dancing with Ichigo at the competition and then suddenly feeling a sharp, terrible pain in my side. Where was Ichigo? I sat up sharply in the bed only to find him sitting right next to me, his hands holding mine and his head resting on the bed next to me; he was fast asleep. I couldn't blame him, the time on the clock said that it was four in the morning.

Slowly my memories of the night came back to me, I remembered Ichigo laying me on the ground while I was in pain and seeing a man with blue hair; it must have been Grimmjow who hurt me! I looked at the place where I had felt the pain under my hospital gown to see it neatly stitched up and clean. I hoped that Ichigo was okay, but considering that he wasn't in a hospital bed too, I assumed that he was just fine. I could see some scratches on his hands and arms, and a bruise was forming on his left wrist. He was so sweet and brave to protect me from Grimmjow like that. I didn't deserve his kindness, or even him for that matter.

I decided to lie back down carefully and put my hand through Ichigo's bright hair, causing him to wake up. He smiled at me, clearly relieved that I was awake.

"How do you feel Rukia?"

"I feel alright, what happened to me?"

"Grimmjow came to the competition trying to kill you. Don't worry about it, I took care of him."

"Is…is he dead?"

"No, but he is in critical condition. The police told me that after he recovers that he will go to a maximum security prison to stand trial. I'm sorry that you are going to have to go testify…"

"No, I don't mind at all as long as he goes to jail for the rest of his life."

We sat there in a comfortable silence for awhile. After about fifteen minutes the doctor came into the room.

"Sir, can I ask you to leave for a few moments? I need to talk to Ms. Kuchiki about something important."

I could tell that Ichigo did not want to leave, but he did. I watched as he left the room and shut the door behind him.

"Now Ms. Kuchiki, it looks like you are going to be just fine. We are going to keep you overnight just to be safe and then you can go home in the morning. I do suggest that you stay in bed as much as possible until those stitches heal up though."

"That's great news doctor, thank you."

"Also Ms. Kuchiki, were you aware that you are two months pregnant?"

A sinking feeling burrowed down to the pit of my stomach. "What do you mean pregnant?"

"I mean that you have a baby growing inside of you Ms. Kuchiki. Clearly you weren't aware of this. I found it in the blood work that we took when you came into the emergency room."

"Well, I had noticed that I had been getting sick lately, but I thought that it was from the stress. Oh no, was the baby hurt?"

"No, the baby is just fine Ms. Kuchiki, we checked. I do highly suggest that you start to see a pre-natal specialist and a gynecologist as soon as possible."

"Yes, of course," I said as he left the room.

Oh, what was Ichigo going to say? What if he doesn't want to have children with me? What if he leaves me because I'm pregnant? Anxiousness began to overtake me as Ichigo entered the room again. He must have seen how distressed I was.

"Is something wrong Rukia? What did the doctor say?" he asked with a worried look on his face.

"Well, he said that everything was fine and that I should be able to go home in the morning…."

"That's great!"

"…And that I am two months pregnant," I mumbled quietly. Tears started to well up in my eyes; I didn't know how he was going to react to the news.

"Really? That's wonderful!" he exclaimed as he ran up to my bed to hug as tightly as he could without hurting me.

"You're…you're okay with it?"

"Hell yeah I am! I want you to have my children Rukia; only you."

Tears began spilling down my face as I began to cry in happiness. Ichigo wiped the tears away from under my eyes and put his head down on my stomach as if to listen for the baby. I was so overwhelmed with happiness.

IPOV

I couldn't believe that Rukia was pregnant with my child. I was so happy that I was going to be a father, but happier that I was having this child with her. I only ever wanted her to be the mother of my children. I put my ear against her belly; I knew that it wouldn't be long before it got bigger and rounder, and that Rukia would only become prettier and prettier. Maybe this was one of the best days of my life after all. I knew then and there what I had to do. It wasn't exactly the timing that I was expecting to do this at, but it was perfect in its own special way.

I got on one knee next to Rukia's hospital bed and pulled the almost forgotten velvet box out of my pocket to open it. "Rukia, I was going to do this after we danced, but this as good of a time as any. Rukia, will you do the honor of marrying me?"

She burst into more tears as she blubbered "Yes," to me while nodding her head. After I put the diamond ring on her finger; I crawled into the hospital bed with her and lay down next to her, wrapping my arms around her thin body gingerly. I put my hand on her stomach, where our little baby was growing inside of her and kissed her forehead. I knew that the next seven months were going to be great ones; I couldn't wait to take care of her as our baby grew. We hugged each other for the longest time, both in tears; it was a moment that I never wanted to end.

* * *

Yay for cheesy endings! I hope that you all loved the story, the epilogue will be posted next Tuesday! -Kin'iro No Tenshi


	16. Fast Forward

A/N: Hey everyone! This is the epilogue of the story; I can't believe that this is the end! It's hard for me to believe that it has been over six months since I started it and now it is finally coming to its conclusion. It's short and sweet; I hope that you like it.

I want to thank you all for reading this story and I hope that you all really liked it; I know that I really enjoyed writing it for you. In case you were wondering how I named the chapters of this story, they were all from movies that were either about dancing or had some great dancing scenes in them, if you hadn't figured that out already.

If you want to read more from me, don't fret. I have a one-shot that will be posted next Tuesday and then I will be starting up a whole new chaptered story the next Tuesday for your reading pleasure. The chapters will be longer and the POV changes are less frequent (hopefully they won't give you whiplash anymore), so if you are interested then be on the lookout for those!

Thank you so much to Aizawa Ayumu Oz Vessalius, shnizlefritz, bostonterrier24 and Kurosaki Anne for the encouraging reviews for the last chapter, and to everyone who reviewed along the way! Your reviews really encouraged me and helped me to keep writing and finish the story.

Warnings: Story is rated M for potty mouth language, some violence and lemons. Please don't read if you don't like any of those things or if you are too young to be reading M stuff. This chapter is rated T for safety.

Disclaimers: I don't own Bleach; I just make its characters live happily ever after. :)

* * *

RPOV

"Goodnight Mommy!" said two small boys in unison as they curled up in their beds.

"Goodnight my dears," I answered back to my two little angels.

It had been 5 years since I learned that I was pregnant with our first boy, and so much had happened since then. After having our first boy, Grimmjow was sent to trial and after Ichigo and I testified against him he was sent to a maximum security prison for life. I was so relieved that he would never bother me or Ichigo ever again. Soon after the sentencing we found out that I was pregnant again with our second boy.

We had a real wedding after the trial, although we had already gotten a marriage license before our first boy was born. It was important to Ichigo that his family sees him married, so we did the whole white dress, ceremony and reception deal. It wasn't quite what I wanted, but I knew that it would make Ichigo happy. Even though it was only Ichigo's family and our friends there, I already felt so much like a part of their family that I didn't mind that I had no family left; Ichigo's family was more than enough for me.

After learning that I was pregnant again, Ichigo and I moved our little family out to the suburbs of Karakura and out of our shared apartment; I had moved into Ichigo's apartment after the incident but before the trial started. We then moved into a mid-sized house that had room for a growing family.

We still run the studio in the middle of town, and we both teach classes there now, mostly to small children. It's nice because someone can always be home with the boys while the other is teaching down at the studio. We gained a reputation as being good dancers within the dancing community despite having not been able to finish that competition so many years ago. We have since danced in other ballroom competitions and had even won some of them much to my surprise. I learned that I was a good dancer like Ichigo had said after all.

Five and half years ago I could have never imagined that my life would have ended up like this. I had just moved into a town where I knew no one and had no idea where I was going to go. I thought that I was going to grow old all alone while running away from Grimmjow and the rest of my past. Now I had a wonderful husband and family and my past was fully behind me. I couldn't believe how lucky I was.

"How was your day?" I heard a deep voice behind me ask. Ichigo looked a little different than he had five years ago, but in a good way. He looked even more manly and mature than before, likely from the stress of having two high energy sons running around. His face had hollowed out a little and he was still as built as ever.

"It was alright, how was yours?" I asked as I went over to him to give him a quick kiss.

"A little long, but okay," he said as he snaked his arms around my waist, his eyes growing darker. "Now that the kids are in bed…."

"Hold on there, I need to finish cleaning the kitchen before we do anything," I replied teasingly.

"You can do that tomorrow, but tonight you are all mine," he growled into the crook of my neck. I giggled as he lifted me up bridal-style and carried me into our bedroom.

I would never want my life any other way; my life was perfect now.

* * *

Yay for happy endings! I hope you enjoyed! -Kin'iro No Tenshi


End file.
